Evaporation
by Chibi Buta
Summary: Kamiya Kaoru disappears and no one can find her (blah blah). Please read to get the full picture. Chapter 8 is finally up!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own anything here, blah blah blah

Disclaimer: I don't own anything here, blah blah blah

Prologue:

She was trying to sleep, tired out as she was from crying. It has been 2 months since Kenshin has left, this time for good. He had gently apologized, explaining that his need to protect the helpless stems from his guilt and was also a kind of promise to Tomoe, which he would fulfill no matter at what costs. Kaoru sniffed again at the memory. She knew that the sentence was Kenshin's subtle hint that he was well aware of her feelings, but he could not return them. And she also knew what prompted his sudden departure. After all, she herself could not help but notice Tae's not-so-obvious hints to Kenshin about the joys of weddings etc, followed by the damage to an unmarried woman living with a young, single and, to quote her words, _virile_ young man. Kaoru winced at the memory. No wonder Kenshin decided to resume his wandering again. Heck, even she would run if she was in his position. But it doesn't make the hurt less. Noticing the time, which says 3.00am, Kaoru decided to try and grab some sleep, since she has an early lesson at another dojo the next morning. Besides, no amount of tears and sleep deprivation would get Kenshin back. Nor the others, who had decided to "tour" the country with him. Unfortunately her tears refuse to cooperate and she was soon crying again.

It was a good thing that she was still crying, otherwise she would have missed the tiny sound coming from the dojo. Instantly alert, she ran out to the dojo, grabbing her shinai as she ran. When she reached the dojo, she saw the intruder, all covered in black, dismantling her father's shrine and tablet. When the intruder saw her, he muttered something under his breath and suddenly vanished right in front of her. How did he accomplish that feat? Magic? Or just the fruit of the lack of sleep for 2 months? Making sure that the intruder had already left, Kaoru decided to postpone taking any actions till the next day, and it looks like she will have to cancel tomorrow morning's class. Besides, now that everyone has left, she does not need as much money as before and could afford skipping some of the classes. She was only keeping all the classes out of responsibility and also to keep herself busy so that she would not keep dwelling on Kenshin's departure. There. She's thinking of him again. She sighed and went back to bed, this time taking extra caution to lock up all the doors and gates carefully. Fat lot of good that would help if the intruder could appear and vanish at will without going through any doors and gates, she grumbled to herself.

The morning came and went in a hustle. The policemen had come down and taken her statements. She had deliberately left out the part where the intruder had vanished before her eyes, saying only that the intruder had left when she arrived. She grit her teeth in anger as she remembered the policemen's air of disbelief when they were told that the dojo had been broken into. But she could see their point: it is after all a small, rather run-down dojo. What is there to attract thieves? Besides, by her own admission, nothing was stolen. But _still_…. the least they could do was take her seriously! Which they didn't. In fact they behaved as if they suspected her of playing a trick on them. "As if I have nothing better to do!" thought Kaoru angrily. Then the thought struck her again: "Who broke into her house? Was it more than 1 person? And what were they looking for?" And enlightenment dawned on her, as sudden as the flash of lightning on a stormy night. Of course! She had all but forgotten about her family's heirloom, and the curse that follows it. And with the understanding, came the swift decision: it was time for her to leave her old life at the dojo and start a new one all over again. 


	2. Decisions

Kaoru scowled, looking at all the things that had been dumped in the garage and had been collecting dust ever since then

_Disclaimer: Nothing below belong to me blah blah blah_

Kaoru scowled, looking at all the things that had been dumped in the garage and had been collecting dust ever since then. It was all very nice and easy to say that she has to leave, but what is she going to do with all these possessions? Besides, where will she go? 

Kaoru sat down in defeat and thought again, she doesn't have any relatives, at least not in this country. About her only living relative is her cousin, who is currently at China, and she can't join him there. And the question came at once: Why not? He's still single as far as she knows, living alone in his mansion. He'll be glad of the company, and they have always been close. Besides, what better way to avoid her pursuers? They'll never guess that she'll run to China, and since her cousin is a Chinese (her mother's sister married a Chinese man and the family moved to China when Kaoru was ten), she has learnt to speak Mandarin as fluently as a native speaker, a skill she acquired secretly, such that not even her parents were aware of it. Although she is loathe to leave all her friends and her dojo behind, she knows that she has no other choice. Besides, since most of her close friends have already left to join Kenshin in his wandering, all she would need to inform would be Tae and Tsubame, who could not and would not leave the Akabeko, andthe oniwabanshu. Lastly, she admitted to herself, it's time for her to give up waiting for them to return. She has been resolving to put it all behind her, but could never bring herself to actually give up the hope that Kenshin might return one day, even though deep down in her heart she knows that it would never be…

Once the decision was made, she started looking around the garage once more purposefully, picking only the things that she will need to bring to China, which isn't much: only her personal belongings since she's certain her cousin's house is fully furnished, even though she has never been there. That means that the things in the garage will have to be disposed of, together with the entire house, come to think of it. Which was a pity. While she knows that she can sell her land for a good price, considering its location, it would be a waste to demolish a fully furnished house that comes with a dojo. Besides, most of the things here are of sentimental value to her. But what else can she do with it?

All through dinner (at Akabeko since she thought it would be a waste of time to cook just for 1 person, and because privately she can't stand eating her own cooking) she pondered on the question. And on the question on how to let the others know that she'll be leaving without telling them the real reason and real destination in case her enemies might target her friends. She was halfway done with her meal when Tae came over, with an apologetic expression.

"I'm so sorry, Kaoru-chan, I was so certain that your feelings were reciprocated too, which was why I, uh, while, kind of hinted to him to marry you…" Tae apologized, looking as if she was close to tears.

Kaoru smiled sadly, "No, it wasn't your fault Tae. Besides, it was better this way. At least I know now how I stand with him, rather than much later…" Kaoru's whisper trailed off as a sob threatened to escape. 

Tae sighed, then wistfully remarked "But he looks so happy and contented staying with you at the dojo you know…"

Kaoru smiled ruefully "Staying **at** my dojo, yes. Not staying **with** me at the dojo. There's a difference you know." And then blinked as the idea strike her. Of course! She could always transfer the ownership of the dojo to Kenshin! Then he wouldn't have to wander anymore and the others can come home too! Besides, it was the only way she can thank him for saving her countless times. Why didn't she think of that immediately? Because you can't bear the thought of everyone staying here happily like before without her. It hurts too much, knowing how little she mean to everyone….

"Are you alright?" Tae asked worriedly, seeing how Kaoru has just dazed off looking so forlorn right in the middle of the conversation.

Kaoru snapped out of her daze and forced a bright smile "Yah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me"

"Well, if you are sure, then I'd better go back to work" Tae replied, relieved that Kaoru appears fine.

"I'm sure, go ahead, I'll be done in a moment or two and then I'll be heading back." Kaoru insisted.

Tae nodded and left ad true to her word, Kaoru finished her dinner quickly and left with a murmurof thanks.

Once back home, Kaoru quickly set to work, packing up the things she need, which wasn't all that much, and preparing the documents to effect transfer of the land and house to Kenshin. It was well past midnight by the time she finished, but for the first time since Kenshin left, Kaoru went to bed feeling, well not exactly cheerful, but a strange detached kind of calm. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she has done everything that needs to be done. Even her farewells have been said in 3 separate letters to Tae, Misao and Kenshin. She has decided to send the 3 letters out tomorrow from Yokohama (where she'll be catching the ship to China) so that she'll be well gone by the time they received the letters.Of course not knowing where Kenshin was was a bit of a problem, but she had solved the problem by sending the letter to Kenshin with the letter to Misao and asking Misao to hunt Kenshin down for her. The transfer documents are enclosed in the letters as well, and her only explanation in all 3 letters was that she'll be leaving Tokyo for good to look after a fictitious grandmother. She did not disclose her whereabouts in the letters as she feared that it might cause a confrontation between them and her enemies. With everything done, all that is left is her departure, which somehow seems to signify an end to "Kamiya Kaoru"…..


	3. The Hunt Begins

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters blah blah blah Chapter 2: The Gathering 

Tae stood nervously at the dojo. It had been a month since she received Kaoru's letter, which she received the day after Kaoru had her dinner at the Akabeko. She had thought it strange that Kaoru had not mentioned anything about moving away when they were chatting, but had not given it much thought. However, recent news from Sae, her sister in Kyoto, revealed that Kaoru has sent a similar mail to the oniwabanshu, who had then tried to locate her without success. The oniwabanshu's failure doesn't bode well. If Kaoru was indeed moving to look after an elder relative, why didn't she leave any contact details? Also, why couldn't the oniwabanshu locate her either? Hunting her down shouldn't be a problem for the oniwabanshu who specialized in such matters. Although the search had started out lightheartedly enough by Misao, who after a sympathetic casual comment about Kaoru's forgetfulness (actually, what she said was "Poor Kaoru's brain must have suffered more than we realize from Himura's rejection! Either that or Yahiko's comment about her being a senile busu is coming true. She didn't even leave a contact address! Oh well, it's nothing to the oniwabanshu to find that out by ourselves! And won't she get a surprise when we visit her suddenly!!") it soon turned serious when the entire oniwabanshu, including Aoshi, cannot come up with a single clue. The oniwabanshu had then decided to locate Himura first to bring him back to the dojo, as requested by Kaoru, before discussing on the next step. It had taken a while for them to locate the Kenshin and the rest, but Tae had received word that everyone will be reaching today, hence her wait at the dojo.

Soon, Tae saw the familiar figures walking towards her. Sano was as usual chewing a fishbone nonchalantly, Yahiko was still wearing an obnoxious expression and Himura's face was politely, although slightly distant, pleasant. In fact, only Misao's tense expression hinted at anything remiss. When they neared the dojo, Yahiko greeted Tae in a loud voice "Hi Tae! I'm back! Tell that busu to get her fat ass here and tell me what was the trouble she got herself into which needed her to get the oniwabanshu to track us down so that we can solve it for her!"

Tae shot a questioning look at Misao, who shook her head. "Aoshi-sama told me not to say anything yet. He said he'll be checking on something and that I'm supposed to bring them back to the dojo first. He'll explain everything when he gets here. Of course he didn't know how difficult it was for me to persuade Himura to come back to the dojo without a good reason. One would almost think that I'm asking him to go to his sworn enemy's den" Misao rolled her eyes in disgust.

Kenshin's face took a grim cast at the comment as he hung his head, not replying. When he lifted his head, his polite smile was back on his face, and he greeted Tae politely, while Sano just yawned at the background.

"Well? What are we doing here? Where's the busu?" demanded Yahiko impatiently.

"Ahhh… right, let's go inside the dojo and wait for Aoshi-sama." stammered Misao, and Tae nodded her agreement. "I've prepared dinner for all of you, let's eat first"

Kenshin's eyes narrowed slightly, watching the two ladies' nervous demeanor closely, but it went unnoticed as Sano and Yahiko dashed inside with loud cheers.

After a loud dinner, during which Kenshin's sense of unease grew stronger, Aoshi finally joined them. Kenshin promptly put down his cup of tea and waited for Aoshi to speak, fear growing stronger as he noticed that Kaoru wasn't with him. It was a detail which he was painfully aware of the moment he came back, and it signifies ill omen when he saw Aoshi coming back with Saitoh, but not Kaoru. He exchanged a cool impassive look with Aoshi and Saitoh, but did not speak. Silence reigned, not even Sano make a noise. It seems as if his fear had somehow communicated to everyone. Finally Aoshi broke the silence.

"We received a letter from Kamiya Kaoru a month ago, enclosing a letter to you. Because we could not find you, and because we needed as much information as possible, we have taken the liberty of opening the letter. Our sincere apologies, it was I, as Okashira, who gave the order that the letter be opened." The hidden meaning was clear: _I gave the command and I alone will bear the responsibility. Come after me if you are displeased, but do not involve the others._

Kenshin gave an almost imperceptible nod, and motioned for Aoshi to continue.

"Kamiya stated clearly in her letter that she will be leaving the dojo for good to look after an elderly grandmother, and that she wishes the dojo to be transferred to you. Since you have by then left Tokyo for a few months, she did not know where you were and hence requested that we track you down and hand her letter, which encloses the transfer documents, to you."

Silence, then Yahiko blurt out "She's giving Kenshin her dojo? But… but… who's going to teach? Where is she?"

"That we cannot answer. She wrote 3 letters when she left, one to us, one to Himura, and the last one to Tae-san. None of the 3 letters contain her whereabouts. In fact, all 3 letters were deceptively casual, but if you look carefully as we had to after we failed to locate her, you will notice that she has taken pains not to reveal her whereabouts." Aoshi replied.

Kenshin stared at the letter, then spoke for the first time that evening "Explain."

Aoshi sighed "Misao-chan noticed that Kaoru 'forgot' to leave her new contact details, and decided to locate her using our specialized talents and to pay her a surprise visit and at the same time to cheer her up. Unfortunately, we could not even discertain the time she left, much less where she went from here. No one saw her leave, and no one has seen her in the entire Japan since she had dinner the night at the Akabeko. When Misao-chan's investigation failed to uncover anything within a week, I ordered the whole oniwabanshu in Japan to search as thoroughly as possible, but not even a shadow turned up. What we DID discover though, was that the day before she was last seen, there was a break-in at her dojo, nothing was stolen, although it was clear that the dojo had been searched, and her father's shrine dismantled. Why and who we cannot say."

Sano broke in with curse "Dammit! You are saying Jou-chan transferred the dojo to Kenshin and left without telling anyone where she's going? And the oniwabanshu can't find her? Che, some kinda ninjas you guys make! While I can see why you are concerned, after all your subordinates have fouled up, why have you tracked us down and dragged us to Tokyo urgently? After all, it's only Jou-chan moving without letting anyone know her new whereabouts. All that f**king bullshit about looking after her elderly grandmother is obviously false, and I'm sure once she gets over the heartbreak our loverboy here has given her, she's sure to contact someone!

"Sano. When the oniwabanshu can't find someone, it means that the prey is not only extraordinarily gifted to be able to slip past them, but also that pains have been taken to ensure that the oniwabanshu do not find them. If Kaoru-dono indeed is only moving, there is no reason for her to go through all the pains to remain undetected. If she did, why? If she did not, then who did? To be able to slip past the oniwabanshu…. Not even Shishio nor Enishi was able to accomplish that. My only concern is: did Kaoru-dono do it on her own? Or was it devised by someone else? Someone who had Kaoru-dono captive against her own will? Also, the fact that Saitoh is here as well implies that there is something which not even he could handle on his own, and that means something beyond Kaoru-dono's league. If she was involved in whatever it is that Saitoh's handling…." Kenshin voiced his concern before Aoshi and Misao can take offense at Sano's outburst, and before he himself could take offense at Sano's last comment.

"At least Battousai has not lost all his wits. Here."  Saitoh finished his cigarette and casually threw a stack of documents at Kenshin, who read it after catching it smoothly Kenshin's brows creased.

"Well, what does the paper says?" Sano and Yahiko asked impatiently.

"There have been reports on break-ins of houses all over the country. The reports are always normally almost identical: the victims hear noises in the night, they check and find a figure cloaked in black searching their house. The figure chant some kind of chants, the victim can't move while the figure continued to search the entire house, when the figure finishes, he disappear into the thin air right before the victims' eyes. Oh yes, I almost forgot, the victims' names are all 'Kamiya'" Saitoh informed them coolly.

Silence again while everyone tries to digest the information. Then Kenshin asked "Aoshi mentioned a break-in of the dojo. Was it the same criminal?"

Saitoh shrugged "Hard to say. Her report did not mention anything about magic acts of disappearing into the thin air, but the officer who took the report noted that the tanuki seemed to be keeping some information to herself. Not that I blame her. From what I understand, she was treated with ridicule when she reported a break-in of the dojo, no point making it worse by telling the ahous who call themselves policemen that the criminal could vanish into the thin air."

"Oh come on, you don't mean to say that you believed all these silly reports? These are only bad bed-time horror stories you to kids!" scoffed Yahiko. "Besides, why would anyone want to break into this old dojo guarded by a violent busu?"

"Same reports happening all over the country? While I may not believe that the criminal can actually vanish into the thin air, I do believe that the Kamiyas all over the country are experiencing a break-in, and the criminal, while not exactly a  magician, do possess some kind of special skills which allow the witnesses to believe that they have the ability to vanish into thin air." Saitoh returned calmly.

As Sano and Yahiko started to make protesting noises, Misao turned to Aoshi "Aoshi-sama? Is it true? Do you believe Saitoh?" 

Aoshi *_leaning against the wall, with closed eyes projecting that cool impassive indifference* "….." Everyone sweatdropped. Finally Aoshi opened his eyes, "I agree with Saitoh. We have checked and most of the victims are quite unrelated, so it's not a family conspiracy. Then why the same reports from all over the country? Something strange is going on. And there's another point which Himura refuses to share," Aoshi raised his eyebrows at Kenshin's glare, which did not go unnoticed by the rest._

"Another point?" Sano and Yahiko looked puzzled, looking at Kenshin half-accusingly, "Well Aoshi?" they queried when Kenshin stubbornly remained quiet, staring at the floor.

Aoshi looked at Kenshin for a moment before speaking "Himura himself acknowledged that it takes a person of rather extraordinary skills to evade us. Do you think Kamiya capable of such a feat? And also whatever it is that Saitoh can't handle alone would be beyond Kamiya's league. Under such circumstances, how safe do you think she is? Wouldn't it suggest that Kamiya is in the enemy's hands and that it is the enemy who has given the oniwabanshu the slip?"

"The letter was written by Kaoru-dono herself! She intended to leave on her own accord!" Kenshin retorted.

"On her own accord or because she had to? Don't kid yourself into thinking that the tanuki is some innocent little girl-next-door who don't know anything about the real world! Shinomori and I have acknowledged that she is of more substance than we initially gave her credit for! Which wasn't much come to think of it. Everyone of us only thought of her as Battousai's little playmate" mused Saitoh.

"Aoshi-sama?" queried Misao uncertainly.

Once again silence, while Aoshi meditated, or looks as if he's meditating, with his eyes closed while everyone else face-faulted. "After the fight with Okina, I went back to the Aoiya to get information on Himura's whereabouts. I would have killed everyone there to get the information, but she stopped me. There's something about her that just made me stop." Aoshi answered abruptly. Yahiko blinked, as he recalled the scene. "That's right! I was all prepared to do battle, but Kaoru stepped forward and said a few things, and you changed your mind immediately!" Yahiko exclaimed.

"NANI!!" everyone else exclaimed, then they started pestering Yahiko, who couldn't remember anything more, for more details on that exchange while Aoshi continued to meditate. Kenshin stared hard at Saitoh, who then grinned, "You should remember that she couldn't stop me from skewering you," Kenshin's eyes narrowed as he recalled the scene when he fought Saitoh at the dojo. "During your first fight with Enishi, I told her to leave before things get complicated," Saitoh shrugged, answering the unasked question. This time even Aoshi took the effort to open his eyes to look at Saitoh, who exhaled a puff of smoke before replying "She understood without me having to tell her that Enishi is after her. Not even the rooster over there noticed anything, yet she could. It was only a glance which Enishi gave her, yet she could sense his enmity. How? A child of her calibre who couldn't even sense chi, how could she know? Yet she took it very calmly, in a rather mature manner. At that time I did not think much of it, attributing it to her past experiences with all your enemies, now I'm not so sure."

"Che, I still say you 2 are too paranoid, making too much out  of nothing!" scoffed Sano. "Jou-chan? Extraordinary abilities? Impossible! Besides, so what is she's hiding some special talents? What has that got to do with anything?" 

"Again you miss the obvious," sighed Saitoh "She couldn't have been hiding fighting talents because we would have sensed it, there's no way for her to hide that from Shinomori, Battousai or me. But what if it's some other talents? Remember the supposedly magician? What if she has talents similar to him? Wouldn't it imply that she is the target of the magician who have been searching all the Kamiyas in the country? And that she knows who the enemy is, hence her sudden disappearance? The police and the oniwabanshu had been looking for the past weeks, but we can't find anything. It's almost like water evaporating, and I don't believe that people can evaporate!" Saitoh ended with a growl. 

Silence once again, while everyone turned to look at Kenshin, who was reading Kaoru's letter to him while absently fingering the transfer documents with infinite tenderness. Which did not go unnoticed, but no one chose to comment.

Finally, Saitoh stood up, "It's late and there's some stuffs I need to do. Shinomori has assured me that the oniwabanshu intends to continue their investigation (here Misao gave a loud cheer) and we have agreed to co-operate. As for the Battousai and your lackeys (protesting curses from Sano and Yahiko) if you want to join, come and see me at my office early tomorrow morning. If not, Ithe police and the oniwabanshu will just handle this alone." With that Saitoh left.

Kenshin finally looked up, "Minna-dono, it's late. We better get some sleep, since Saitoh has insisted that we see him early in the morning." Yells of cheer resounded through the night as everyone rejoiced for their own private reasons. There was some good fighting guaranteed for Sano and Yahiko while Tae and Misao are overjoyed that there seems to be a second chance for Kaoru and Kenshin. With joyful yells oh "Hai" everyone retired to sleep.

Author's note:

Readers who have read this before might notice slight changes.  Nothing major, just a few amendments. In any event, please feel free to let me have your comments, praises and/or flames at chibibuta@hotmail.com 


	4. Journey to China

Disclaimer: I do not own anything below blah blah blah 

Chapter 3: The Hunt Begins

The next morning showed everyone gathered in Saitoh's office, with varying degrees of impatience as they waited for Saitoh to begin the discussion. Only Kenshin and Aoshi appeared calm_._

Saitoh finished his cigarette and started speaking.

"It all began almost a year ago, at least the first report came  in about a year ago. At first no one took any notice of it, after all, it's just a break-in, and nothing was stolen. Eventually, someone noticed that all the break-ins occurred to people by the family name of "Kamiya", and that there's always a statement from the victims claiming the intruder could vanish into thin air. That was how we differentiated this series of break-ins from other miscellaneous break-ins. The first report came from a village in the West, and following all the reports, it could be seen that the intruder, or intruders, has slowly made their way up to the East, 'visiting' the various Kamiya families along the way. In fact, I won't be surprised if every Kamiya family from the West to the East had been visited. The situation was noticed by the government about 3 months ago and since then, we have instructed every police station to keep watch at all the Kamiya family. But none of the police ever caught sight of the intruder, although a few of the watched families did report a break-in eventually. Apparently they slept like pigs and never did wake up when the intruder visited them, either that or the intruder had left by the time the police heard their cries for help"  Saitoh snorted in disgust.

"Then how is it that Kaoru-dono had to face an intruder on her own and later make a report herself if police were posted at every Kamiya family?" Kenshin's soft question was laced with steel, evident anger showing.

"Because no police was posted at the Kamiya dojo where the Battousai was reputed to be staying at. We had believed that even if the intruder had broken into the dojo, you would have been able to capture him. Battousai's reputation as a ruthless killer we are all aware of, but as a ruthless heartbreaker we didn't know, hence we did not consider the possibility of you leaving the dojo. A big oversight on our part"  admitted Saitoh, his hand on the hilt of his sword, as he noticed Kenshin's hand going to his sword at Saitoh's insinuation.

Aoshi stepped between them, "We are not here to watch you two fight, we are here to discuss how to catch this mysterious intruder and to find Kamiya Kaoru."

"Hey psycho cop, you still have not explained why you have linked Jou-chan to all these break-ins. From what I can see, although Jou-chan's house has been broken into, you said last night that there was no report of 'magician' vanishing into thin air in this break-in, unlike the others. So aside from the common surname, how could you be certain that the break-in was one of the series of break-ins? How do you know that Jou-chan did not really leave on a heartbreak tour?" Sano objected.

"I can't be certain as I have no concrete evidence. But note this: Since the first report there has been a report of a break-in at a Kamiya family by the intruder at least once every week, searching the entire house even if the residents discovered him. It was obvious from the tanuki's report that in her case the intruder left before he finished searching the entire dojo. Why, when before he had simply immobilized the victims and continued with his search? What makes the tanuki different? Because she is the one he's looking for and he is aware of her hidden talent? And then the tanuki disappears scarcely two days after the break-in, and since then there has been no report of any break-in at a Kamiya family. It appears very obvious to me that the tanuki is the "Kamiya" that the intruder is seeking, and the tanuki is aware of it. At least, she is aware after making the report. I doubt she would have made the report had she realized it immediately." Saitoh answered.

"You are not making sense. Why wouldn't the busu make the report if she knows someone is after her and she is in danger? She would have sought help from the Oniwabanshu at least, even if she doesn't wish to seek help from Kenshin." Yahiko objected.

"Why indeed. Why didn't she inform anyone where she is going and in fact, hid her trail so completely that neither the police nor the Oniwabanshu can find her? It seems that she has anticipated that someone _would be looking for her, but friend or foe, she obviously doesn't want to be found. __You tell me why, since you seem to be so certain about this," Saitoh said laconically. _

There was a profound silence as everyone digested the information Saitoh had given them.

"You said that the police and the Oniwabanshu have been looking for her, so what is the status now? Also, how did you come by the conclusion that it was Kaoru-dono who had hidden her own trail when she left, and not someone else who had captured her, as suggested by Aoshi last night?" Kenshin finally broke the silence.

Saitoh and Aoshi exchanged a long glance before Aoshi reluctantly replied "The status at the moment is - nothing. We can't find anything, and that's what had us so worried. If it wasn't a serious matter as well as an urgent one, Saitoh would have quitted smoking before he's willing to come to you for help. As for the latter question, we are in odds about it. I'm keeping an open mind, but Saitoh is quite certain that Kamiya had hidden her own trail."

"Serious? Urgent" How so? Even if there is a series of break-ins by a strange fella, you yourself admitted that nothing was stolen, so how could it be serious? Also, I don't see why you guys are so urgent to find Jou-chan" frowned Sano.

"Trust the rooster to overlook the obvious," sighed Saitoh. "It is serious because the fact that nothing is stolen means that the guy does not care for materialistic and/or miscellaneous wealth, else at least a few of the family would have reported the loss of some valuables. Which suggests that whatever he is looking for is of much more significant value than the normal 'treasures'. Since we do not know what it is, we must find the tanuki for answers. As for urgent, if we cannot find her within the month, the probability of us finding her gets lower with every passing second."

"Agreed, but you still have not explained what made you so certain that Kaoru-dono had hidden her own trail, with such stunning success. Why would Kaoru-dono cut off all ties when she is a person who places much importance on friendships and emotions?" Kenshin replied.

"You still trying to kid yourself? The Battousai back in the Bakumatsu would not have asked such unnecessary questions. You yourself pointed out that the tanuki wrote letters to you guys, meaning she had decided to leave. Since we can't even find out when she left, it would mean that she had covered her trail from the very beginning when she left. As such, wouldn't it mean that the tanuki was the one who hid her own trail?" Saitoh patiently explained.

"Unless she was captured just before she could leave," Aoshi murmured.

"You still going on about that?" Saitoh replied wearily,  'If such was the case, I'm sure there would have been at least some sign of disturbance at the dojo, which there isn't. The tanuki may be nowhere near us when it comes to fighting, but not many people can overcome her without allowing her a chance of retaliation. Hence my conclusion: Kamiya Kaoru is the target of the series of break-in, and realizing it she had taken off, hiding her own trail so well that not even we could find her. I only wish that her report had came to me immediately as I requested, not 3 days after it happened. I might have been able to have a talk with her before her sudden flight. Oh well, at least I ensured the ahous who messed this up will not forget my orders from now on. So, Battousai, what's your decision?"

Everyone turned to look at Kenshin, who was staring unseeingly at his clenched fists. For some obscure reason, the fact that Kaoru was in trouble and had not asked him for help hurt him, very badly in fact. The last time anything had hurt so badly was when he thought her dead during Enishi's Jinchuu. Also, the fact that she chose to face it alone and not ask anyone for help strike a deep fear in him. _Why, Kaoru-dono? What if you can't defeat the enemy? What would happen to you then….? _

Kenshin's head came up with a snap "My decision should be obvious, else I wouldn't be standing here. We find Kaoru-dono as soon as possible, protect her and defeat the enemy. Since it's agreed that the matter is of extreme urgency, sessha would suggest that we get to work instead of wasting time standing here and talking."

And with that, everyone snapped to attention and started allocating work: The hunt has begun….

_Author's note: Someone had asked me why Kaoru had to leave without informing anyone… I thought the answer would be obvious: she doesn't wish to involve any other people into her own problems unnecessarily. Isn't it obvious that Kaoru has an independent nature and would rather face her own problems herself instead of waiting for some knight in shining armor to rescue her? At least, that's my opinion. And before anyone flames me for wasting 2 chapters without even mentioning Kaoru's present situation, I will be going into that in the next chapter. Don't be so impatient! As usual, C&Cs are welcome at chibibuta@hotmail.com _


	5. China

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Disclaimer: I don't own anything below blah blah blah

Chapter 4: Journey to China

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Time Frame: Immediately following Chapter 1.

It was still dark, although the clock shows that it will only be moments before the sunlight starts streaming in. She looked at herself in the mirror and inspected her appearance again. She had tied up her hair and hidden it beneath a western hat, and she's wearing a western suit which had previously belonged to her father. It had taken a lot of work to alter it, but it now fits her nicely. She looked, in every aspect, just like a handsome young boy. She nodded to herself in satisfaction. She hadn't played at being a boy since she was 14, but it looked like she hasn't lost her touch yet. She shouldn't have any trouble deceiving everyone. 

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Enough of admiring yourself in the mirror, it's time to get started, Kaoru admonished herself. Picking up her luggage, Kaoru walked to the gates, before stopping to take a final look at the dojo. Remembering all the happy times, Kaoru struggled to control her tears before turning resolutely to walk away without a single backward glance.

Upon reaching Yokohama, she wrestled with the problem of finding a suitable candidate to deliver her letter to her friends. It can't be someone who's easy to trace because if anyone should question the deliverer, it would be easy to find out that she had disguised as a guy and had left for China. It took her 3 hours before she found the perfect candidate: a monk who was travelling all over the country. It is harder to locate someone when they are wandering, and besides, it's harder to distinguish a monk, since they all wear similar clothes, and this particular monk had a hat covering half his face. With luck, no one will look closely at him when he delivers the letters. 

With that settled, Kaoru immediately went on to look for a ship that's travelling to China. Since she could speak Chinese perfectly (although she is a bit out of touch, having not spoken the language for almost 2 years, she could still converse without any problem), the Chinese ship-owners were more than willing to help her out, believing her to be a fellow countryman. She was soon on board the ship, on her way to China. "this is it, after this I'll never come back again, and will never see this again" thought Kaoru as she stood at the stern trying to catch the last sight of her country. "Farewell, my hometown, my friends. Farewell, Kamiya Kaoru…."

As she gradually lost sight of Japan, Kaoru sniffed once more before turning away, and then stopped to stare in awe of the sunset. It was magnificent! Streaks of purple against the blazing red background, with the moon slowly making it's way up. Kaoru couldn't help but be reminded of Kenshin. And she had to wonder at the irony that she should be seeing something so beautiful and so Kenshin-like on the day she leaves her country permanently. Perhaps it's a sign from the Gods that there is hope, that there is always hope in life as long as you don't give up. With that heartening thought, Kaoru squared her shoulders and thought resolutely, "That's right. Life goes on, and although Kamiya Kaoru shall cease to exist from this day on, **I **shall still live on! And who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to find happiness again! No, I will be happy, I'll do everything I can to be happy." And she walked towards her cabin, determined to find happiness, even if it is in a country far away from her hometown, from her heart……..

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Author's note: yap, this is short, but the title itself told you it's only on her journey to China, and surely you won't expect me to give you a step-by-step account on every little thing that happened to her on the ship, do you? I'll be buried under mountains of rotten eggs and tomatoes before I'm even half done with the chapter! I tried to lengthen it, but found that I could not do so graciously. It ends up rather whining, and honestly speaking, it doesn't fit with my image of Kaoru. Sure she's emotional, but brainless weak bimbo she's not. But I promise next chapter would be longer: Kaoru reaches China and arrives at her cousin's place. There you'll have some hints and clues as to the family heirloom and curse. As usual, C&Cs are welcome. If anyone wants to send me hate/love mails, please do so at: _chibibuta@hotmail.com__ . Oh by the way, I'm not very familiar with Chinese customs/culture etc, so if anyone could help up in this area, kindly contact me at the above address. Hints on what I need: a Chinese name for Kaoru, the costumes she wear, her lifestyle, etc. Once again, thanks ^_^_


	6. Back to Japan

Disclaimer: I don't own anything below blah blah blah. 

Author's note: Please note that I am no expert in Chinese history/Chinese costumes. A lot of help came from Tanuki_Onna and Mu Lan (bows gratefully) but at the end of the day I just thought, what the heck, it's just a fanfic and I'll write what I like in it. It was too troublesome to try and adhere to actual Chinese customs and it might take years before this chapter would be able to come out if I try to do so. Do not come flaming me if you find any discrepancies in my fic with what you know to be accurate, cos I've already warned you: this is not a history lesson. This is a "I'll do as I like" fanfic. Also, please note that all speeches are in Chinese, unless otherwise stated. And speeches in Japanese will be in Bookman Old Style, like this.

Chapter 5: China 

_Time Frame: 3 months following Chapter 4._

_Place: Beijing, capital of China_

"…and I have asked them to come back and repair the ceiling next week, but since I will be away on a business trip, you will have to take care of it." A young man, dressed in the traditional Chinese costume of a long shirt with pants underneath concluded to his companion, a young lady wearing a body-hugging Cheongsum. **_Author's note: I was watching Charlie's Angels yet again and when I saw how gorgeous they looked in the cheongsum, I decided that all my female Chinese characters will wear it even if it's not the norm during that period. I say it is and it is. Just let it be___**

"Oh? And where will you be going?" asked the lady.

"I'll be going Shanghai. I've heard recently that a erm…. company… of my friend is in some trouble, and I'm worried about my friend." The young man replied.

"Company? What company? And which friend?" asked the lady, arching a skeptical eyebrow, noticing her companion's hesitation.

"Oh just someone I befriended in my travels, you know that **Biao Ge used to travel a lot before I took over the family business and I met this Japanese friend of mine who in the end started his own business, with some help from me." ****_Author's note: this means older cousin brother in Chinese.___**

"I'm surprised you went so far to help him start his business. I thought you always said that a businessman should not spend a cent unless he's certain he can get at least 2 cents back from the cent?" the lady frowned.

"That's the principle of all businessmen in the world. A businessman has to adhere strictly to this principle if he is to survive in this dog-eat-dog world of trade. But this friend is rather special, his ruthlessness and his willingness to do anything to achieve his goals make him rather outstanding, even though he was rather young at that time. He's only a year younger than me and was only 17 when I met him, but even then his sword skills were already quite excellent. I was certain that he would prove to be a good investment and sure enough, I've made a neat profit from it, and although he has returned more than amply what he owed me, we've built a rather close friendship and we still keep in touch now and then. And now that I've heard his erm… company is in a little difficulties I thought I'd better see what's wrong." The man explained.

"I see, and the  erm…company is dealing in?" the lady further queried, with narrowed eyes.

After a long moment of silence and some fidgeting on his part, the man finally sighed before replying, in Japanese. 

"Kaoru-chan, there's only 2 of us here in the house, and I'm going to speak plainly and in Japanese so that you will understand better, although I know you speak Chinese just as well. You've been here for a few months and although you've picked up the trade quite well, so well in fact that you've become my right-hand er.. woman, you've got to realise that not all dealings of a businessman is always above table. There are some things which are better left unsaid, and it's only polite among businessmen to not probe into such matters. You've joined me in some innocent business dealings, and since you will be with me permanently, or until you marry, you might as well learn the complete truth. There will come a time when you will have to assist me in such..erm, secret dealings."

**Author's note: Did it take you so long to realise that it's Kaoru and her cousin we were talking about?!? Note that I haven't given them names as yet because I couldn't quite come up with one.**

Seeing how Kaoru's expression has taken one of disdain, the man quickly added, "I know that Uncle has always trained you to be a warrior and you are always a erm.. stickler with what you call a warrior's code of honour, but Kaoru-chan, please remember this is China, I'm a businessman, and the businessmen have their own codes of … erm.."

"Honour?" Kaoru added sarcastically, then quickly apologised. "I'm sorry. You're right, I am no longer a swordswoman in Japan. Since I have to live in this world, I might as well do so graciously, and learn everything about it as fast as I can."

Her cousin heaved a sigh of relief. He is truly fond of his cousin, but she can be such a stiff-neck about morals, principles, honour, code of ethics and God-knows-what-else. He is serious about training her, but he also knows that she can never be a true businesswoman. She's too generous and kind-hearted to survive alone in this ruthless world of business. While not an evil man, in fact one could say that he is a good and kind man, he tends to have unorthodox methods when doing things. He never sees any harm in it, as long as no one is hurt in the process and he gets what he wants, he doesn't see why he couldn't use such methods. His cousin unfortunately tends to question such methods, although she won't really kick a fuss about it. For some reason she has learnt to be more streetwise since he last saw her. Besides, as an assistant, she's invaluable. She's disciplined enough to make sure that things that needed to be done always get done, regardless of how tedious the process might be, and most importantly, she's absolutely trustworthy. It's always a rare gem for a businessman to find someone they can trust, and isn't it lucky for him that he just happens to have a cousin whose integrity is without question, especially if you do not wish to earn a whack from her, he chuckled to himself.

"Well, I'll be leaving now, so please see to the things I've entrusted you with, and lastly, remember, do NOT trust anyone or invite anyone into our house while I'm away. Remember that someone is after the pearl." Her cousin cautioned her, reverting back to Chinese.

"Hai, hai. Mou, you can be such a nag!" pouted Kaoru.

Her cousin laughed and pretended to whack her in mock anger before picking up his luggage and leaving.

Kaoru watched her cousin's departure with a smile. Outwardly he appears as a normal wealthy young businessman, with his silk costumes and gold accessories. Who would ever guess that under all those hides an expert in martial arts? As a disciple of Shaolin, her cousin is an expert in fist fighting as well as weapon fighting. And well he needs it, with all the scraps he always gets into, although he always managed to solve his problems without a fuss. Her cousin has a habit of living a double identity, one a wealthy businessman, and the other a martial pugilist who fights against injustice and help people in need. In fact, his deeds has earned him a nickname "**Ye Xia", since he never reveal his true identity, hence the people have given him the nickname to refer him as. ****Author's note: this means Night Warrior. 'Xia' refers to pugilists who fight against injustice.**

Remembering her cousin's cautioning, Kaoru's thoughts returned to her family heirloom. Although her cousin had referred to it as a pearl, it's not entirely an accurate description. It's a piece of jade carved into the shape of a dragon and a phoenix with a pearl in between. It has been handed down from mother to daughter for countless generations and it had came to Kaoru when her mother had died. She had been taught all about it naturally and had known about the curse which follows it. The curse as it is, affects only her since she's the only living female of the family, but still she has no wish to incur it. Hence her flight to China. She wondered how her ancestors had come by it, for the origin of the heirloom seems to be more Chinese than Japanese, and as far as she knows her ancestors on both side are Japanese. "Then again, it's not so surprising if an ancestor had to flee to Japan to avoid those shameless thieves who covet the heirloom. After all, I had to flee to China. Isn't it ironic though, I am forced to flee to China because of the heirloom while an ancestor is forced to leave it because of the same reason?" mused Kaoru. 

Shaking her head to clear such thoughts, Kaoru decided to get to work. With the ever-expanding business and her cousin away, there's going to be loads of work to do.

**************************************************************************************************************************************

Kaoru watched her cousin worriedly. He had just came back from his trip and had stormed back into the house without a single word since he had got off the train. And had been pacing about the house since then. 

'Biao Ge, what is the matter? You've been pacing for 3 hours and honestly, it's making me giddy just from watching you. Tell me what is wrong, I might be able to help you." Kaoru finally spoke up.

After a long silence, her cousin finally spoke up. "My friend's company has dissolved. In fact, the authorities have them in custody."

Kaoru frowned, "In custody? You mean as in your friend and his subordinates are in jail? Oh well, I guess that is the ultimate risk you face when you are running an illegal business. But why are you concerned? You've told me that your friend has returned what he owed you, so you no longer have an interest in the 'company'. Besides, it's only his fair due if he's in jail for some crime he has committed."

"I wouldn't be so worried if that's the case. You are right in that I have no interest in the 'company'. It was only a means to achieve my friend's goal in the first place and I wouldn't be surprised if he intended to throw it away after he's achieved his goal. In fact, I've heard that he has agreed to let his Second-In-Command take over the entire business once he's achieved his personal goals. It's the fact that both my friend and his Second-In-Command have disappeared that's worrying me. That's how the company were arrested in the first place, because no one was in command and the authorities had no problem arresting them." Her cousin explained, with a worrying frown.

"Can't you find them? Between you business dealings and your comrades in the pugilist world, your network covers the entire country. Not even the government is as well informed as you are," asked Kaoru distractedly, wondering why the story sounds familiar to her.

"What do you think I've been doing this entire 4 months that I'm gone? I've asked everyone I know to help me keep a lookout but no one can come up with anything! I only know that the last anyone saw of him was when he was leaving for Japan to accomplish his goals. I know he intended to return to Japan to accomplish his goals and since he'll be handing the business over, I'm quite certain that he does not intend to return to China after his goals are accomplished. And from this report, it would appear that he's still in Japan." Her cousin concluded.

"So why are you so worried?" asked Kaoru.

"Because the Second-In-Command has also disappeared! He's a sneaky, untrustworthy fellow and considering his vested interest in the company, I want to know why he has disappeared and where to!" exploded her cousin before shamefully apologising. "I'm sorry **Biao Mei, I know it's not your fault. It's just that I've been travelling non-stop for 4 months trying to find a clue and not finding it, and I'm just so weary and worried." ****Author's note: it means younger cousin sister**

Kaoru waved his apology aside, "So what do you intend to do next?"

Her cousin frowned at that question and for a long moment, neither spoke. Finally her cousin spoke up, "I'm going to Japan."

Kaoru dropped the antique vase she was inspecting and it fell onto the floor with a crash. "What?"

"I said, I'm going to Japan, and so are you." Her cousin repeated.

"No." Kaoru refused flatly.

Her cousin winced, he had not anticipated this response. But still he continued to persuade her, this time in Japanese. 

"Kaoru-chan, there's only the 2 of us here in the house, so I can speak without fear. I've been to Japan many times, but you do realise that my network there is quite non-existent. Only what gossips I can pick up from my business associates. I'm going to need your help there."

"But I don't even have access to any network!" protested Kaoru.

"Not even one?" asked her cousin worriedly.

"Of course not! I was a kenjutsu instructor, not an Okashira of the Oniwabanshu!" retorted Kaoru.

"Oniwabanshu? What's that?" her cousin frowned at the unfamiliar phrase.

"That's the name of a secret ring of ninjas" explained Kaoru distractedly, "But that's besides the point. I won't be of any help there!"

"Ninjas? And how did a kenjutsu instructor get to learn this? Or is it a common name which everyone knows?" her cousin queried.

There was a long silence before Kaoru admitted, very grudgingly. "I kind of made friends with them…"

And her cousin asked, "And your ninja friends don't have a network?" 

Kaoru stared stonily at him before snorting in disgust, "Why don't you just go ahead and smirk? I can see the it from here!"

Her cousin gave an innocent smile. "Well, now that the matter is settled…."

"Oh no it isn't! You know that I left immediately after they broke into my dojo to look for the heirloom. I've transferred my dojo to a..to a friend, and although I've informed all my friends that I'm leaving, I left no contact details. In fact, I've done my bloody best to hide my trail from any prying eyes, which includes the enemy, the police and even the Oniwabanshu! I gave it my best shot for it to be the final end to Kamiya Kaoru! I can't just turn up from the blue and ask them to help me search for this friend of yours! How am I going to explain my disappearance?" Kaoru protested vehemently.

"That depends. Are you even certain that they are aware of your disappearance? They might not have discovered it, you know, if they have not tried to find you." Her cousin pointed out.

Kaoru bit her lips, "But what if they did? And what if the enemy finds me when I return? I don't want to invoke the curse. Cousin, you know I've been terrified of the curse ever since I've learnt of it, and although it's been centuries since the curse was last invoked, still…"

Her cousin frowned. That's true, and it's hardly fair to ask his cousin to risk that curse for a friend of his. After all, blood is thicker than water. But it's a common code of ethics among the pugilists to risk even their own lives for a friend, and although that does not include the lives of their families, but he has to do something, right?

"We'll just go as our current identities. I'm a Chinese businessman on a business trip and you're my cousin accompanying me. I have mountains of credentials to back me up, and if anyone notices the similarity between Kamiya Kaoru and **Fang Ye Die we'll just shrug it off as coincidence." ****Author's note: I have finally decided upon a name for Kaoru, which means Night Butterfly. **

"But nevertheless, what if the enemy gets suspicious? Cousin…." Kaoru's voice trailed off with fear.

Her cousin sighed, he can understand her fear, which are after all not unfounded. Heck, even he has nightmares about the curse, and to return to Japan when the enemies are there looking for her…

"Tell you what. Why don't you just write me a letter to your friend pleading my cause and I'll go there alone?" suggested her cousin.

"Don't be silly! One main reason why I did not inform my friends on my intentions was because I was afraid the enemies might target them! And although my friends are extremely skilled when it comes to fighting, our enemies are not exactly what you call normal! They might target you if you turn up with a letter from me! And who knows what they're going to do to you? No, it's better if I go with you as Fang Ye Die, and once there, we'll just have to take every step as they come." Kaoru decided firmly, although her hands are shaking visibly.

Touched, her cousin reached forth and gripped her hands tightly, "Don't worry Kaoru-chan. I will die before I let anyone touch you." He promised.

Kaoru gave a small smile, blinked her tears away, and stood up, 'Oh well, I guess I better go and prepare for our journey then. By the way, you have not told me your friend's name yet."

"Didn't I? How thoughtless of me. He's a Japanese man by the name of Yukishiro Enishi, and he's returning to Japan to avenge for the death of his sister." Her cousin informed her.

"What?!?" Kaoru froze to a standstill, not quite believing her ears.

"Yes, it's quite a sad story actually. During the war his sister's fiancee was killed by a hitokiri, and the sister married the hitokiri in order to spy on him. Eventually the hitokiri killed her, and Enishi had hated him since then. In fact he lives only to avenge his sister." her cousin went on. Finally noticing Kaoru's white face and the tears that she could no longer hold back, he stopped and stared at her, with sudden comprehension. "You know him? My God, don't tell me the hitokiri is the Battousai who jilted you?!?" he asked incredulously.

"Not exactly jilted. Kenshin has never loved me. Never….ever….loved me." And Kaoru broke down, sobbing her misery out. For so many months she had forced herself not to think about it, forcing herself to be happy. And now, just when it seems that she can finally get over it and forget the entire matter, Fate is forcing her to confront the truth: that Kenshin does not love her. And, she had to admit to herself, she has never stop loving Kenshin despite it. 

Owari

Author's note: Hate me? Well, I can't help it. Please R&R, or if you want hate-mails can be sent to chibibuta@hotmail.com Let me know how you find it. Next chapter Kaoru returns to Japan and……… more clues on the heirloom and the curse.  


	7. Back to China

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Disclaimer: I don't own anything below blah blah blah. 

****

Author's note: All speeches in Japanese except for those underlined, which means that they are spoken in Chinese.

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Chapter 6: Back To Japan

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Time frame: Approximately 1 year after Kaoru's disappearance, in Japan on some God forsaken mountain near Kyushuu.

"Kuso! I don't believe this. 1 year and still not a trace of Jou-chan!" growled Sano.

"Look on the bright side, at least the enemies have not found her either, or they wouldn't have visited us so many times." sighed Megumi, dishing out their breakfast in their respective bowls. 

"Kitsune, that's not a consolation, and you know it. Although they have visited us several times, we still have not been able to find out anything about their identities. And to make matters worse, they just come and go as they please. What do they take us for: Whores for them to visit and leave as and when they please? Kuso!" Sano cursed once more and smashed the table in his anger.

The entire table turned silent, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally Misao spoke up.

"I still can't understand how they did the disappearing act… I thought it was just a trick, but not even Aoshi-sama or Himura could stop them from disappearing, or see through their trick. Does that mean that they can really disappear at will? But how is that possible?"

Aoshi exchanged a troubled glance with Kenshin, and when neither is able to come up with an explanation, kept silent and respectively reflected on their past meetings with the enemies.

The enemies always turn up late in the night, and normally when the group have stopped for a rest in a forest or wood with no other company, as if they are avoiding publicity. Their only motive for visiting them was to ask for any clues on Kamiya Kaoru's whereabouts, and to warn them not to meddle into affairs not concerning them. Naturally the Kenshin-gumi had not accepted it and just nodded their heads meekly. In fact, during the visits they had without fail tried to find out their identity and their motive for hunting Kamiya Kaoru. But just as the Kenshin-gumi refused to reveal anything regarding Kamiya Kaoru's whereabouts, not that they know anything but they refused to even reveal their ignorance, the enemies refused to answer any of their questions as well. Such stalemate invariably ends up in physical violence with neither party losing as the enemies always disappears before the Kenshin-gumi could actually reach them. And despite their 'Now-You-See-Me-Now-You-Don't' act the enemies could never actually come close enough to hurt them without Aoshi and Kenshin realising beforehand. All in all its very frustrating as neither party finds out anything and they are still stuck at where they were when they first started out. 

"As Megumi-dono pointed out, at least we know that Kaoru-dono is not in their hands. And it now looks like Saitoh is right after all. Kaoru-dono had staged her own disappearance so well that neither party could find her. Sessha only wished that Kaoru-dono had at least trusted one of us enough to let us know her whereabouts. Although she is not in the enemies' hands yet, she might end up so if they manage to find her before we do. And if that's the case there's nothing we can do about it," sighed Kenshin.

"Ahou. If she had informed someone, we would have led the enemy to her long ago, that's probably why she staged an absolute disappearance." Saitoh remarked casually, leaning against a tree.

"When did you arrive?" this startled exclamation came from all except Kenshin and Aoshi, who had sensed his presence beforehand.

"Even so, at least we would be there to protect her. Rather than her facing them alone," Kenshin replied.

"How certain are you that she's alone? She might have fled to somebody she trusted," remarked Saitoh.

Kenshin kept silent, while Yahiko and Sano protested that there's nobody that Kaoru will trust more than them.

"How much will you trust your so-called friends and disciple who just abandon you at will? Especially if it's a matter of such importance?" Saitoh asked pointedly, resulting in absolute silence. There was nothing anyone could retort to that.

"But what about us? I'm sure she knows that she can trust the Oniwabanshu! There's no reason for her to hide from us! Besides, Kaoru herself said that she has no other relative or close friends she could depend on, hence she had to single-handedly run the dojo after her father's death!" protested Misao.

"Whatever, the truth is she had runaway, and she obviously had not trusted any of you here, at least not enough to let you know her whereabouts or even the reason behind her disappearance. And it looks like she knew her enemies are people of rather unnatural skills. They broke into the police station last week, searched through the entire place and left with the files on Kamiya Kaoru. The only lucky thing I could say is that at least the information in the file is incomplete. In fact, we gathered so little information we might as well not have tried." snorted Saitoh in disgust.

"How did they break into the police station just like that? And why have the police only gathered so little information?" frowned Sano.

"As for the how: apparently they just apparate into the station, and apparate themselves out again. As for the why: because the authorities, like you previously, had dismissed it as something of very little importance and did not put any effort into it. However, with the station being intruded just like this, the authorities have finally sat up and took notice of it. As of last week the police have put this on out top priority list, which means that now I'm able to officially join you guys in the search. And the other police are doing their best to gather any information on Kamiya Kaoru. I've specifically instructed them to start collecting information beginning with her birth, if necessary." Saitoh flicked his cigarette.

"Well, we don't welcome YOU." Misao growled, and her declaration was echoed by Sano.

"Unfortunately you don't have a choice, Weasel. While I won't be joining you guys in the actual sense of the word, I'll be keeping in contact with you. Once I have anything of value, I'll let you know and I trust you'll do the same?" Saitoh arched an eyebrow at the deafening silence which followed his question.

"Of course, Saitoh. And thank you." It was Kenshin who finally replied.

"Don't thank me. It looks like I have even more at stake than you do. For them to actually break into the police station suggests that the matter is one of utmost gravity that even outweighs the authorities. And such things tend not to be of a positive nature, and eventually leads to chaos. In which case, I'd rather keep it under control." Saitoh remarked grimly before turning to leave.

There was a long silence following Saitoh's departure. 

"So what do we do now?" Yahiko asked.

"We continue looking for the pilgrim who handed us Kaoru-dono's letters. He's our only clue, so even we'll track him down even if we have to climb every mountain in Japan. Saitoh is right, for them to openly defy the authorities hints at matters both grave and evil. We need to find Kaoru-dono before she gets into trouble." Kenshin replied.

Then a small voiced question followed from Misao. 

"Aoshi-sama, is it true that Kaoru does not trust any of us?"

At that, the entire group fell silent, each occupied with his own thoughts. Kenshin, Sano and Yahiko were the worst hit. Saitoh's accusation kept ringing in their minds_: How much will you trust your so-called friends and disciple who just abandon you at will?_

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Meanwhile, in Yokohama, a ship had just arrived from China. While that in itself is not unusual, what is unusual is that the ship appeared to be a private ship and there were many important looking people waiting at the dock for its arrival, which included the Chinese Ambassador. The unusual sight caused many to stop and gawk at the scene, trying to find out which important personnel is on the ship, and the reason behind the 'welcoming committee'. 

The ship finally halted, and a young man stepped out. His appearance caused an excited stir of mutterings among the 'welcoming committee'. The young man, however, ignored the commotion and turned to help a lady down. The sight of the lady resulted in a hush to fall upon the onlookers. Dressed in a red Cheongsum, which incidentally has a slit thigh-high, the lady's stunning appearance earned many appreciative sighs. Slight in form and yet perfectly proportionate, she looks like a fairy as she floated down the ship. Her long tresses had been arranged in an intricate manner involving many hairpins and ornaments, and on her ears hung a pair of jade earrings carved in the form of a pair of butterflies on a flower.

The Chinese Ambassador stepped out and could be heard exclaiming loudly in Chinese as he welcomed the couple, who after a moment of conversation stepped into a carriage provided by the Ambassador. As the carriage rolled away, a curious onlooker asked a member of the "welcoming committee', a Chinese merchant.

"Who on earth is that couple? And why is the Chinese community is excited by their arrival?"

"That is Master **Fang Long Ao** and his cousin, Miss Fang Ye Die. Master Fang is one of the wealthiest merchants in China. In fact, he's reputed to be linked to many officials in China, which might explain the Ambassador's presence." The merchant replied. "All I know is that I'm glad he's here. Now that he's here there are many business opportunities for us to explore. That would explain why the Chinese community is so excited. His business is so vast it covers almost all trade, hence almost everyone is looking forward for a talk with him. But I did hear that he's here on personal reasons this time though."

****

Author's note: that's Kaoru's cousin's name, which means Arrogant Dragon.

"Nonsense, if that's the case he wouldn't have brought his cousin along. Although she has only been helping him for a year, her capabilities are so well-known that it has spread even to people like us who have been stationed in Japan for years. It is said that her word is even more credible than her cousin's, and once she has given her word it's as good as done. Hence lately many of his business associates prefer doing business with her, and it's said that Master Fang does not seem to mind, in fact he even encourages his cousin to help him out as much as possible." Another Chinese merchant overhearing the conversation interrupted.

"In any point, it's not only the Chinese community who is looking forward for a chat with them. I heard that many of the Japanese associates are trying to meet them too, so I'd better be on my way before the other competitors reach them." The second Chinese merchant ended and rushed off, and many of the merchants followed.

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Kaoru sighed and stretched herself. After a month on the sea, it felt good to have her feet on the land again. The journey had been a nightmare, she had always been prone to sea-sickness but this time coupled with her fear at the thought of returning to Japan, she had been so sick that she had not been eating properly throughout the trip. And now she's finally at the mansion they had borrowed from the Ambassador, who is apparently a personal friend of her cousin. She narrowed her eyes at that: her cousin's friends seem to include the Chinese mafia ring-leader and the government officials. He's going to get into trouble one of these days if he doesn't watch out. Oh well, she'll have to be extra careful.

At that moment the said cousin came in.

"Feeling better? I'm sorry I had to drag you all the way here. But don't worry, now that you know more or less what happened to Enishi, we can narrow down the search and once we find him, we'll return to China immediately." 

"Biao Ge, I only know that he jumped off the ship during his arrest, but after that I have no idea." sighed Kaoru.

"I know, you were so caught up with his brother-in-law you probably didn't notice any other thing. I must admit that I feel a curiosity towards the famed Battousai though. What I know from the legends and from Enishi is totally different from what you say. A number one killer turned peaceful rurouni. And my Biao Mei have to fall in love with such a man." mused Long Ao.

Kaoru bit her lips, and the gesture did not go unnoticed by her cousin.

"I'm sorry, that was thoughtless of me. You know that Biao Ge is an uncouth man, and totally unversed in the affairs of the heart." Long Ao apologised.

"But totally well versed in the matters of the bed," Kaoru returned wryly, shaking her head at the unnecessary apology. "It's alright, meet him if you wish just as long as I don't have to meet anyone here in Japan.

"That might be a problem. The Ambassador said that your capabilities as my assistant is so well known that many people from both the Chinese and Japanese business industry have been trying to meet you. And since you'll be here as well, why don't you keep a lookout for any business opportunities while I search for Enishi?" suggested Long Ao.

"Right, I work myself to death while you travel and enjoy. Not on your life, besides I wish to avoid all possible contacts. The less people I meet the smaller the chance of the enemies discovering me." Kaoru declared.

"Good luck in your attempt to avoid all contacts, but perhaps you might first wish to help me in a problem: How do I go about searching for Enishi?" frowned Long Ao.

Kaoru sighed. "Biao Ge, the Chinese Ambassador is your personal friend. Just ask him to ask around the Japanese government officials on the matter, and he'll soon be able to direct you to the man who was in charge of that operation. Be careful with that man, although called Fujita Goro now, he's real name is Saitoh Hajime, the Miburo Wolf. Try not to let him see through your 'frivolous wealthy man' disguise. And no matter what happens, don't let him provoke you into a fight."

"Miburo Wolf, eh? Seems like you have fallen into the company of rather important people in Japan," Long Ao remarked, but his unconscious gesture of flexing his fingers did not escape Kaoru.

"I'm serious, Biao Ge. Don't pick a fight with that man. Nothing good ever comes out of it." admonished Kaoru.

Long Ao sighed, reluctantly nodded his agreement, then bade Kaoru goodnight before leaving the room. 

Kaoru watched her cousin's departure, with a sense of premonition. Soon her cousin will come into contact with someone from her past, even though it's a really remote 'someone'. But still….

"Kami-sama, I hope the meeting with Saitoh will not evolve into meeting the others as well. I'm not up to seeing Kenshin again." prayed Kaoru, even though in her heart, there's an ever-present ache to see him once again.

"But I can't. Not when I know he'll never love me, and not when I'm being hunted like a rabbit. He'll just offer to help me out of sympathy again, but not even he may be able to stand up to them. I'll just have to lock myself in this room and not meet anyone." Kaoru decided, resolutely ignoring the pain in her heart. 

Outside, Long Ao watched the lights in Kaoru's room go out, and a smile spread on his face. _I promised not to fight the Miburo Wolf, but I didn't say a thing about the Battousai, Biao Mei. And I intend to see him at least once before we return to China. But before that, I'll concentrate on finding Enishi. After that, payback time. No one hurts my Biao Mei and just walk away like that. Besides, I must find out for myself whether he's as good as they say. But first thing first: Let's meet Saitoh Hajime first._

Owari

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Author's note: Kow-towing: My apologies. I know I promised more hints on the heirloom and curse, but somehow the story just refused to go the way I wished (sob). But don't worry, all in good time. It will be revealed eventually, I promised. As usual, it's easier to just R&R, but if you wish yawns, flames etc can be sent to _chibibuta@hotmail.com__._


	8. Meeting the Wolf

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Author's note: I know this took a long time, but due to constant failure of my PC, major editing of this chapter, and God-knows what else, all I can say is: I'm sorry *humbly grovel at readers' feet* But at least now I know better than to trust my lil brother to fix the computer. Somehow his remedies are always temporary and the stupid PC will always just die on me few days after what he termed his 'repair'. *snarl in exasperation at memories*

Anyway, enough with the crap and on with the chapter. Please note that dialogues underlined are spoken in Chinese. 

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Disclaimer: I don't own anything below blah blah blah. 

Chapter 7: Meeting the Wolf 

Time frame: _2nd day of their arrival in Japan._

Kaoru woke to sounds of birds chirping outside her windows. Stretching herself with a yawn, Kaoru glanced at the clock and was shocked to note that it was coming close to noon. It was the first time since they had decided to come to Japan that she had slept so well. Washing and dressing herself hastily, she quickly made her way down with a fear of dread. Knowing her cousin, he most probably had instructed the servants not to disturb her sleep, which meant that he's out doing something he knew she would disapprove. Kami help her, if he's out stirring trouble on their second day itself, she would make him wish he had never been born.

Two hours later, Kaoru had to concede defeat as she sink into a chair in exhaustion. She had searched the whole house and could not find him. Although she had a strong suspicion of the idiot's whereabouts, she was definitely not about to go and announce her presence to the Mibu's wolf. She could only pray. Just then, a rumble in her stomach reminded her that she had not eaten anything since last night, and that for the previous month she had not been eating properly. Resolving to handle things one at a time, Kaoru went in search of food.

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"Are you sure of this?" the Chinese Ambassador asked doubtfully. 

"Trust me old friend." Long Ao replied confidently.

"But he's not called the Mibu's Wolf for no reason. Despite your garish costumes, he'll be able to see that you are no frivolous young man born of a wealthy merchant. Well you are, but not an ordinary one and I'm afraid the Mibu's Wolf might take offence at your deception." the Chinese Ambassador objected.

"Not in front of you he wouldn't. At least he wouldn't show it. Mibu's Wolf he might be, idiot he is not. Why do you think I asked you to come along? It definitely wasn't for the pure pleasure of your company, entertaining as they are." Long Ao countered, grinning impudently. 

"Even if you survive the Mibu's wolf, I doubt you'll be able to survive your cousin's wrath when she wakes up and find that you have drugged her and ran off to confront the Mibu's Wolf while she's unconscious. Something you admitted that she specifically told you not to do. Old friend, don't forget I am trained in martial arts as well and while I may not be as accomplished as you, I am not that lacking as to be unable to see that your cousin had been similarly trained. It would appear that she received her instructions from you, but that she had been trained in something else as well…." The Ambassador mused.

"Sometimes you see too much, old friend. But you are right, I did teach Ye Die the basics of the Shaolin martial arts when we were young. I didn't want to mind you, girls have no business learning martial arts, but Ye Die can be very persistent and despicable when she decides she wants something. Also, I think her father used to let her play with the sword. She was bound to pick up something here and there," Long Ao shrugged.

The Ambassador chuckled. "For all that you are doing your best to be nonchalant, the fact that you had to resort to drugs to sneak away while she's unconscious suggests that your cousin's skills are not as insignificant as you claim. And don't think I have not noticed how much you deferred to her. My wife might be naïve enough to think it's due to your concern for her, but I know better my friend. You were in your defensive stance every time you talked to her. Which leads me to think that your cousin's temper may not be as mild as her namesake."

Long Ao scowled. "Laugh all you want, just pray that you never cross her. Anyway, here we are, the police headquarters. If you'll kindly have your guys blow the fanfare, we'll go and bait the Mibu's Wolf."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saitoh frowned as he exhaled a puff of smoke. He couldn't believe that they still could not find out anything about Kamiya Kaoru. And to think that some of her closer childhood friends are in the police force as well! It would be a downright humiliation if the Battousai came back with the girl while he couldn't even unearth any relevant information. 

Just as he was contemplating on how to torture the ahous in the police force (for motivation purposes ONLY, of course), his door opened with a bang. Saitoh disinterestedly glanced at the door to observe the Chief, who was followed by two other men.

"Fujita-san, there you are. Let me introduce you to the Chinese Ambassador, Lord Chen Yi Tien, and his friend Fang Long Ao. Master Fang here is one of the wealthiest merchant in the entire China, and he has a favour to ask from you." The Chief explained as he made the introductions.

Saitoh merely nodded his acknowledgements as he studied the two men. What struck his interest was that the two men were obviously trained in martial arts, and from their ki, they were not merely trained, but quite accomplished as well. Of course the Ambassador is no way as good as himself, but he is definitely very strong, even better than that Sagara Sanosuke, although just slightly so. And more importantly, that Fang Long Ao might just be as good as himself and the Battousai. And such a man has a favour to ask from him? Saitoh arched an eyebrow as he looked at the man expectantly.

Long Ao flashed an arrogant smile typical of the frivolous, empty-headed and wealthy young fools he was trying to pass off. "It's a very simple matter, one I'm sure you'll have no problem doing, Fujita-san. You see, I have a friend by the name of "Yukishiro Enishi" who returned to Japan sometime last year for personal reasons. But since then there was no news of him and I would like to know his whereabouts. If possible, I'd like to negotiate a deal with the Japanese authorities for them to overlook his…'mistakes', which the Chief here has agreed to. But we still need to locate Enishi first. I had been advised that you were in charge of the operation involving Enishi, hence I have came all the way down here to see you first thing in the morning."

"Master Fang only arrived in Japan yesterday, and he came to see you first thing this morning. " the Chief beamingly added. _No doubt he thinks that I'd be flattered to be showered wish such attentions. Arrived yesterday and in my office today, _mused Saitoh, _and he claimed no news of Yukishiro Enishi since his departure from China?_

The same thought seemed to have struck Long Ao, as he hastily added that he had been asking around ever since he set foot on this land. Knowing that this Fang Long Ao would not be revealing anything, at least not without some appropriate encouragement which is definitely out of the question with both the Chief and the Chinese Ambassador present, Saitoh gave him a brief summary of the Jinchu Arc and informed him that no one has any information on Yukishiro's whereabouts since his decision to take a swim in the open sea, all the while maintaining a deceptively bored manner while keeping a sharp eye on Long Ao.

Wearing a perplexed expression, Long Ao innocently queried. "I was under the impression that Enishi had committed some major big-time crime. And I **am** rather surprised that the Japanese authorities had allowed him to just swim away apparently without further ado, not even making the effort to search for him. Is it normal for the Japanese law enforcement units to let things be if criminals run away?" 

The Chief and the Ambassador started coughing at the remark, although for different reasons. The former to cover his embarrassment and the latter being simply startled by Long Ao's audacity. Saitoh narrowed his eyes. With just one remark Long Ao had just about ensured that the entire police force, and probably some from other military forces, would be stopping all current operations and concentrating on unearthing Yukishiro Enishi from this very moment. The Japanese authorities could not afford the embarrassment of further failure to locate a criminal before the representative of another country. _And that's why he made the remark in the first place,_ Saitoh thought with grudging respect. _This man is good, in some ways even better than the Battousai and Shinomori. Then again, as one of the wealthiest man in China and with apparent connections to the Chinese government and mafia, he almost has to be, considering all the politics that he is certain to face._

Nonchalantly lighting another cigarette, Saitoh coolly interrupted the Chief's stuttering explanations, well aware that Long Ao was not paying any attention to it in the first place, his attention being focused on Saitoh himself, like a warrior watching his opponent. "No it is not normal. We have not been looking only because we are no longer interested in him, since we are certain he would not be committing further crimes, and because his brother-in-law requested so. However, since I assume the Chinese Ambassador will request so, we will hunt him down for you. If that is all, you can leave now and I will contact the Ambassador once we have any news of Yukishiro Enishi." 

Long Ao smiled, and maintaining his façade of a frivolous wealthy merchant, he bowed flippantly and left with a facetious remark on how certain he is that it wouldn't take the police much time to locate Enishi for him. 

__

Still pretending even though you know that I am well aware of your deadliness? Saitoh thought with some amusement. His day had turned for a better unexpectedly. No doubt the tanuki case is still as vexing and as urgently serious, but he could do with a little distraction and that Fang Long Ao is more than an adequate distraction. Saitoh felt his lips stretched by a feral grin as he discreetly left the office to trail him.

"What were you thinking back there?!? You might just as well have thrown your gauntlet at him! What makes you think that he would not decide to do a little research on you or just make life difficult for you?" Ambassador demanded.

"Nothing. I knew that I could not fool him the instant I saw his eyes. Did you notice the way he studied us? He was well aware of our accomplishments in the martial arts just by studying our movements." Long Ao pointed out admiringly.

"Then why did you have to further provoke him? Don't forget you promised Ms Ye Die not to cross the Mibu's Wolf!" The Ambassador reminded Long Ao sharply.

"I promised not to cross him and cross him I didn't. I merely enlisted his necessary assistance in locating Enishi. It's not my fault if he's the predatory bastard he is, is it? I can't think of anything that I have said or done that could have given him offence, as I nearly killed myself playing the part of an empty-headed, frivolous and yet charming young man to the core just to satisfy my cousin. It must have worked like charm, if he is escorting us to ensure our safety." Long Ao laughed gaily, ignoring the Ambassador's startled exclamation as he looked around trying to locate Saitoh.

__

This turned out better than I hoped. Looks like I might get to play with the Battousai as well as the Mibu's Wolf after all. And without having to break my promise to Kaoru-chan, Long Ao thought gleefully as he made his way back to the mansion to where Kaoru was waiting for him.

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Time Frame: 2 days following Long Ao's encounter with Saitoh. Venue: Saitoh's office.

The Kenshin-gumi had returned from their hunt for the pilgrim and is currently explaining the same to Saitoh, who was disgruntled by the interruptions of his game. But he had to acknowledge that the case had taken a serious and grave turn.

"And so now the only clue is dead?" he asked the desolate group.

Kenshin nodded grimly, then recounted the encounter to Saitoh….

__

It was nearing sunset when they finally tracked down the pilgrim who had handed Kaoru's note to them. It sounded simple enough, but to find 1 wandering specific pilgrim, without any idea who he is and where he's heading is a feat that no one in his sane mind would attempt. It was to their credit that they had persevered and finally managed to track him down despite many false leads and meeting many wrong pilgrims. 

The pilgrim was meditating under a waterfall, doing some obscure training to focus his will when they finally found him. Misao wanted to 'wake him from his sleep' immediately, but was prevented by Aoshi, who had enormous respect for meditation, his own or otherwise. The others had protested and even Kenshin was hard-pressed to fight his impatience to get answers immediately from the pilgrim after more than a year of searching and anxiety. But Aoshi merely stared at them impassively until the entire group conceded, albeit grudgingly. After what seemed like hours, the pilgrim finally opened his eyes and approached them.

There was a short confusion initially as the pilgrim vehemently denied ever delivering a letter on behalf of a lady. After some 'reminders' from Misao (by waving her kunai as she yelled at the pilgrim) the pilgrim remembered soon enough. After all, as he put it so wryly, who could ever forget meeting such a genki weasel? (Here Aoshi had to personally refrain Misao from inflicting fatal violence on the pilgrim).

"…. So we would really appreciate if you could advise us where did our friend go to, or where she was when you met her." Kenshin politely concluded his explanations.

The pilgrim frowned. "But I've never met her!"

Flashing her kunai, Misao growled "Not this again! You just admitted to handing the letter to us, so how can you not meet her?!?"

"Aa, I did hand you the letter, but it was handed to me by a young man, and from all accounts your friend seems to be a lady, or am I mistaken?" 

There was a stunned silence, as they tried to digest this information. Young man? Kenshin and Aoshi drew in a sharp breath with a hiss, and their expression appeared identical: furious, but at themselves. As they closed their eyes and struggled with their inner battles, the rest could only stare at the 2 older men in bewilderment. 

"Kenshin…?" Yahiko finally asked timidly, Sano noted. The rurouni had grown increasingly withdrawn and even cold over the year. Nowadays he had stopped oroing at every single thing. Heck, he had even stopped smiling and talking to anyone. No wonder the kid is scared.

Kenshin did not answer for a moment. Finally he opened his eyes and answered flatly. "Kaoru-dono disguised herself as a man when she left, which explained why no one witnessed her departure. She most probably left the dojo already dressed as a man. We had… overlooked this possibility, although I can't understand why. It's a common practice back in the Bakumutsu. Assassins used to disguise as women to carry out their assassinations, and some of them were even quite beautiful. We were only looking for a pretty teenage girl, and totally neglected to investigate on the other categories. At least now we know how Kaoru-dono managed to stage her total disappearance."

"It's not that simple, Himura. It is not in my nature to be so… careless," Aoshi said the last word with obvious distaste. "But it did not occur to me, and never would in a million years, to consider the fact that she would resort to such practices. Our belief of her as a total innocent, too kind and generous for her own good, was too concrete for us to even allow a possibility that she might even be aware of such underhanded practices. Which would explain our oversight. But… I can't forgive myself. I KNEW she was not the innocent girl-next-door, but yet I neglected the possibility of such underhanded methods from her. I can't discern whether she's an extremely talented actress to be able to portray such monument of innocence and purity when she's not, or…" Aoshi's voice trailed off when he could not find the words to express his frustration. 

"I do not know her as well as you do, but the lady, which I gathered by now IS actually your lady friend disguised as a bishounen, is certainly not an actress. Her purity, or kindness as you called it, is the essence of her soul, and as unaccomplished a monk as I am, not even I can miss that. I have never seen a soul more innocent and pure than hers. However she did seemed quite desolate when I met her, and I did joke to myself that a guy with such beautiful looks and haunted expression would have to bury himself under a mountain to prevent being ravished by the women."

"Bishounen?" asked Yahiko and Sano with open mouths.

"Aa, even that red-headed bishounen would be hard-pressed to outmatch her." The pilgrim solemnly replied, but could not quite manage to suppress the impish grin.

Ignoring the others as Misao excitedly vowed to get Kaoru to show her the disguise when the find her, Kenshin asked the pilgrim "Sessha would appreciate information on her whereabouts."

The pilgrim's expression turned grave. "Guess I better tell you everything. I was passing through Yokohama after a visit to an old friend when the young man, sorry guess I should say lady, stopped me. She requested that I deliver 2 letters, 1 to Tokyo and the other to Kyoto, on her behalf as she has other urgent matters to attend to. I agreed, because I know that it could not be anything bad, and because she appeared very troubled. I had hoped that I could lessen her burdens by agreeing to such small favours. After all, it is the teachings of Buddhism that all living things should practice goodwill and kindness to one another. After receiving the letters, I left Yokohama and journeyed straight to Tokyo to an Akabeko restaurant, and thereafter to Kyoto's Aoiya. Where the lady might have gone, I'm afraid I really have no idea."

The jubilant mood of the group immediately changed to disappointment again. This is their ONLY clue, and they can't believe that he does not know where Kaoru is! 

"Sir, please think again. Did she not mention anything about the 'urgent matter' she had to attend to? Or where she might be going?" Kenshin pressed.

The pilgrim frowned and closed his eye as he tried to recall. Before he could say anything though, Aoshi suddenly leaped high onto the branches of the trees surrounding them. A few seconds later, there were yells as a few men dressed totally in black fell out from the trees injured. 

Misao, Sano and Yahiko immediately went into fighting stance, only to notice that Kenshin had disappeared as well. Looking around frantically, they noticed him further out in the woods fighting more guys, all dressed in black. Watching the 'black guys' flicking in and out of their sight, they could only watched in dazed stupor as Kenshin and Aoshi battled the group of guys on their own.

So absorbed were they in the fight that no one noticed a figure creeping out from the stream behind them. It was only when they heard a muffled yell that they turned to see the pilgrim struggling with yet another black guy. Angered, Sano and Yahiko immediately ran towards them. Only to see the black guy sneer, and closing his eyes, muttered some incantations. Sano and Yahiko continued to run towards them, and Misao threw her kunai at the man who had held the pilgrim captive. But before the kunai could even reach him, the guy opened his eyes on the last word oh his incantation and all of them were thrown back by an invisible force. Slamming into trees, and in Sano's case a huge rock, they were knocked unconscious. 

Seeing the situation, Megumi immediately started treating Sano's injuries, since he had knocked his head against solid rock and was bleeding profusely. Screaming loudly, she yelled at Kenshin and Aoshi to save the pilgrim.

Hearing Megumi's shout for help, Kenshin finished the last enemy by thrusting the enemy's sword through his shoulder and pinning him to a tree. Not bothering to check on the enemies, Kenshin immediately ran after the pilgrim and his captor, who has disappearing and re-appearing in odd leaps and jumps. It appears that being weighed down with an extra burden, the enemies could not disappear as freely as normally. Using his God-like speed, Kenshin sped after them relentlessly and knowing Kenshin's pursuit, the enemy tried desperately to shake Kenshin off his trail.

Finally, after close to an hour's pursuit, Kenshin managed to overtake them. Snarling, the enemy closed his eyes once more in a desperate attempt to call forth his power. Not waiting for him to even begin his incantation, Kenshin slammed his sword into the man, causing him to fall onto the ground in a heap. 

"Give it up. I do not know the nature and extent of your powers, but I can sense that your ki is very weak. You will not be able to call forth your powers under such circumstances. Our 1 year's stalemate has finally come to an end, and you **will **tell me all that you know. Why don't you start by telling me who are you, what are your objectives, what do you want from Kaoru-dono and where is she, although I doubt you can answer the last question." Kenshin stated coldly, violet eyes that have turned increasingly cold and hard over the past year now gleaming gold.

Looking around desperately and seeing no way out, the man snarled. "I'd rather die than betray our Sacred Leader to despicable murderers like you, Battousai. But even if I die, I'd die making sure you won't be able to find that bitch!" Before Kenshin could react, the man activated the bomb he had hidden in his hand. Noticing the telltale flick of the wrist, Kenshin threw himself into the nearby stream just before the explosion. Finally, when the explosion has died down, Kenshin emerged from the water only to find the dead and quite decapitated bodies of the man and the pilgrim… 

"..and so we are now back to square one." Kenshin concluded.

"That's not quite exactly correct, Himura. While you were away, I tried to question the survivors. As you know all of them chose to die rather than tell us anything, but they did reveal a few things before dying." Aoshi corrected Kenshin.

Kenshin frowned, "You didn't tell me this."

"…aa, you weren't ready." Aoshi acknowledged the mild rebuke. Ignoring Kenshin's hard stare, Aoshi continued.

"As you know, the few captors all chose death rather than reveal anything. But one of them did scream out upon his dying breath that no matter where the Highest Priestess run to, their Sacred Leader would find the Essence of Life, and upon the Highest Priestess's soul would a new ideal world be built, where their souls would be able to reincarnate to enjoy life as it should be. Whatever that means have yet to be deciphered, but I had given orders that research be done into it." Aoshi concluded, and closed his eyes to the deafening silence which greeted his revelations. 

__

"Äno… Aoshi-sama?" Misao asked uncertainly, and seeing Aoshi open his eyes to look at her, she continued hesitantly. "But… but it sounds as if Kaoru… as if Kaoru is the Highest Priestess they are talking about…" Misao's voice trailed off when she saw Aoshi's confirmative nod. Only to continue in a rush. "Then what do they mean that a new world will be build open her soul? Are they going to kill Kaoru?" Misao asked in a quivering voice as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. The hiss of indrawn breath at the last query was thunderous.

Aoshi, keeping a wary eye on Kenshin, whose face was obscured by his bangs as he kept his face carefully downcast although he could not hide his clenched fists, replied "As I said, the meanings are not clear, be it their phrases or the enemies' intentions. But I had ordered the Oniwabanshu to look into it." Again, silence ensued.  


"What about the police? What have they uncovered?" asked Aoshi.

"Lots. We know that she's the only child, that her mother died when she was young, that she's a tomboy since infant with a passion for swordfighting, that she's undoubtedly the ringleader among the kids during her childhood and a real terror for fighting against injustice even back then. And from all accounts her father had to literally beat her into submission to start wearing a kimono when she reached the age of 12. Her life is so ordinary that I'm wondering whether we are all after the wrong girl or whether the police are just plain incompetents. And some of her childhood friends are in the police force as well." Saitoh snorted in disgust.

"Childhood friends?" Kenshin's head snapped up, and at the same time Misao and Yahiko exclaimed "Beat her into submission to start wearing a kimono?"

Just then a young policeman rushed into the room.

Saitoh just pointed towards him, "Ask Tsumura over there, he's one of her closer childhood friends and because of that he's been transferred here to help on this case."

Tsumura blushed from the scrutiny he received from the Kenshin-gumi.

"Is it true? Kaoru's father had to beat her into submission to wear a kimono?" Yahiko asked eagerly.

"Hai. Back then Kaoru-chan was a real tomboy. In fact, she went around wearing her gi and hakama all the time, and since Kamiya-sensei is always too busy to really take her into hand, she grew up as a pseudo boy. In fact, strangers invariably thought she was a boy and even the neighbours have all but forgotten that she's a girl. But when she reached her 12th birthday, Kamiya-sensei decided that it's time for her to start behaving like a girl and ordered her to wear a kimono. But Kaoru-chan… well, let's just say that it was the first time we saw her disobeying her father, and Kamiya-sensei had to conduct an object lesson on obedience at the dojo. It was a sight we'd never forget." Tsumura shuddered. "But of course the transformation was shocking to say the least. It was like seeing a beautiful butterfly emerge from the cocoon." 

As the crowd fell silent to digest this interesting piece of information, Aoshi spoke up.

"Aside from her cross-dressing, is there any other thing unusual about her?"

"Cross-dressing? Sir, you'd better really pray she never gets to know about what you just said, she's has no scruples when it comes to whacking and disabling people." winced Tsumura.

"Answer the question, Tsumura." ordered Saitoh.

"Hai. Kaoru-chan herself is unusual. Trying to run a dojo on her own, inviting virtual male strangers to live at her dojo, running around picking fights, and Kami knows what. But aside from her eccentric character, her life is pretty normal. Just a girl-next-door kind, if you know what I mean." Tsumura answered with a salute.

"Except that this girl-next-door has disappeared while a bunch of mysterious people seems to be after her. In fact, they are so keen on getting her that they even break into the police station." Saitoh remarked sardonically. "And while you're here why don't you tell me what you're here for?"

At this, Tsumura came to attention with a salute. 

"I almost forgot sir! We, that is Hideki and I, we just remembered about Kaoru-chan's cousin Ryu-kun! We were just reminscising about our childhood and how Kaoru-chan would always get into fights with the older and bigger bullies and even at times the yakuza, and that how she would be dead if not for Ryu-kun to always bail her out of trouble. That's when we remembered that she had a cousin, whom we always called 'Ryu-kun'. Unfortunately that's all we can say because, well, Ryu-kun himself is a bit of mystery. We only know that his mother was sister to Kaoru-chan's mother, and hence they would occasionally visit. However the last time he was seen was about 9 or 10 years ago. So where he is, what his full name or even actual name is I'm afraid we can't tell. But we are fairly certain that if Kaoru-chan had gotten into trouble again and needed help, she is almost certain to run to him. Always had done that and most likely always will. The cousins have always been sweet on each other, if you know what I mean. Ryu-kun would always pamper Kaoru-chan and allowed her to act on her every whim of fancy, and Kaoru-chan would always run to Ryu-kun when she needs help, or even when she just wants comfort or company." Tsumura informed with a cheeky grin, blissfully ignorant of the death threats emanating from the glares of the Kenshin-gumi. 

"And it took you so long to come up with the only relevant information that we have collected so far?" Saitoh asked with an arched eyebrow. "And why has no one else came forward with this information?"

Tsumura fidget shamefully as he answered. "Not many people are aware of Ryu-kun's existence. He doesn't mingle with the people during the occasional visits and his parents are even worse, staying cooped in the dojo. We used to speculate that Ryu-kun would do the same if not for Kaoru-chan's penchant for getting into fights and needing his protection. Add to the fact that he had not been seen for the past 9 nine years… well, not hard to see why people forget, Sir."

Saitoh snorted in disgust. "Go and find Hideki, and I want the 2 of you to go through every cobwebs in your brains and remember everything about this 'Ryu-kun' that you know, or don't know. If it's not too taxing on your brains, try to find something useful like names, addresses, descriptions, occupations and the such. And I want the report by tomorrow morning 9am sharp. Is that clear?"

"Yes Sir! We'll go about it immediately, Sir." Tsumura left the room with a sharp salute.

"Ahou." Saitoh muttered, then looked at the Kenshin-gumi. "Well? You've heard all there is to hear, and the rest will only be ready tomorrow morning. Why don't you come back then, hopefully with more information on those gibberish of a dead man?" 

Before anyone could take offence at Saitoh's method of asking guests to leave, Kenshin spoke up, "And what will you be doing in the meantime?"

Saitoh exchanged a long cool glance with Kenshin, and sardonically replied. "I didn't know you were so concerned with my life, Battousai."

"I'm not, but there's a… predatory air about you, a suppressed excitement and… playfulness if you will, that I'm certain has nothing to do with this case….and you are definitely in a very good mood, otherwise the poor kid would have received a harsher lashing on their late report" Kenshin replied.

"Unlike you, I have other responsibilities, and I will not neglect them for a single case. Now if you don't mind, get out of here. I have a dragon to hunt." Saitoh could not quite keep the feral grin away as he thought of Fang Long Ao.

Kenshin shared a raised eyebrow with Aoshi on Saitoh's intriguing remark, but could only shrug and leave the police station with the rest, since it was certain that Saitoh does not intend to divulge more.

Watching them leave, Saitoh thought to himself. _Yukishiro's brother-in-law you might be, but that Fang Long Ao is MY prey. I wonder what other tricks he has up his sleeves_, Saitoh chuckled as he remembered the game they had played in the past 2 nights….

Owari

Author's declaration: *hide under table to avoid thrown weapons.* I can't help it, the plot just refuse to go the way I want it to. But next chapter will be better and faster. I swear.

Author's plea for help: I have received many comments on my erroneous grammar and tenses. Unfortunately most of the time I'm not even aware if I am making a mistake. I simply can't tell right from wrong, and although I have tried my best on this draft, I am not too confident of the results. If any kind soul or any reader infuriated with these mistakes are kind enough to proof-read my drafts for me in future, please contact me at chibibuta@hotmail.com of course, the above email can be used if you wish to send any C&C or flames ^_^


	9. Finding Kaoru

Author's foreword:

Apologies for the delay, and thanks to the many nice, patient readers who had reviewed and who has been sending me emails to er… encourage me to quicken my pace of updating. I know that it's the norm to actually list and thank the readers individually, but I'm afraid I might take up an entire page or more just on the replies and thanks, so let's just let me say a very great "THANK YOU" to everyone generally.

Again, the conversation in underline are in Chinese, the rest in Japanese. With that, on with the show

Chapter 8

Kaoru tapped her feet impatiently, hands on her hips as she stared at her cousin menacingly.

Long Ao eyed her nervously, while furiously racking his brains for an excuse, fictional or otherwise, to keep her from making sashimi out of him. Especially keeping in mind Kaoru's skills with a kitchen knife… he'd probably end up having to carve himself in the end, just to shorten and lessen the agony. Long Ao shuddered imperceptibly as his ever-active imagination came up with a vividly realistic image of Kaoru carving him into sashimi, and fumbling with the knife in the process.

"Ano… you really should calm down, Biao Mei. I really don't understand why you are so upset about my… er… sightseeing and socializing with potential business associates and partners in Japan. Besides, you are always nagging on how irresponsible I am and how I should take a keener interest in our business. Aren't you glad that I am, uh, actively developing our business in Japan?"

Kaoru arched an eyebrow. _So that's how he wants to play, is it? Fine, I'll play along. Pretending to consider his argument, Kaoru frowned thoughtfully, and pondered aloud, "You DO have a point there. I mean, socializing is a part and parcel of the business, and you are definitely the better choice than myself for carrying that burden…."_

Long Ao tensed even more. While Kaoru's words appeared auspicious for his continuing good health, all his warrior instincts were screaming at him to make a dash for it. Besides, he knew his cousin all too well, it was just not like Kaoru to be so easily sidetracked, especially when she was bent on 'educating' someone. As unobtrusively as possible, he positioned himself to flee at the slightest warning of danger.

Pretending she had not noticed the change in his stance, Kaoru continued wistfully. "And the potential additional revenue we can make from trading in Japan… but Biao Ge, since when did we conduct any business transaction with the Mibu's Wolf?" And with the last question, Kaoru cornered Long Ao before he could make a run by bringing one of her foot to just an inch away from Long Ao's face, ready to kick him if he so much as made a false move.

_I knew it, Long Ao thought sourly. __It was too good to be true. As Long Ao tried for an innocent smile, Kaoru cut him off before he could even say a word._

"Don't bother. I am not falling for another one of your "Oh-So-Innocent" look. Out with it. Why were you visiting the pleasure quarters in unsavory districts every night for the past week, with Saitoh not-so-discreetly following you no less? And what happened to your search for Enishi?"

Long Ao threw an amused grin at her. "Biao Mei, do you really have to ask why I have been visiting the pleasure quarters? I mean, you are what? Eighteen? Nineteen? And still unschooled in the facts of life?"

Wham. Long Ao had forgotten about her vigilant foot before his face, and was reminded relentlessly for the next twenty minutes, as Kaoru mercilessly kicked and stomped every inch of his face and body. 

And this was how the Ambassador found them when he walked into the receiving quarters to join Long Ao for his nightly trysts, as he had been doing for the past week.

Noticing the Ambassador's presence, Kaoru halted her attacks abruptly. Trying to hide her flaming red face, she bowed to the Ambassador while murmuring her apologies over the unsightly scene, to which the Ambassador waved off with a careless laugh.

"Don't worry, I know how frustrating Long Ao can be. Goodness knows, I had been tempted oft enough in the past to do the same. I just didn't have the guts to carry it out, knowing that I would be the one on the receiving end. It's a pleasure to finally see justice meted out, by a beautiful heroine, no less. Don't let me obstruct you in your practice of justice." The Ambassador winked.

"Hey!" Long Ao called out indignantly. But his protest went unheeded as Kaoru gave the Ambassador a brilliant smile of gratitude before returning to her task. Meanwhile, the Ambassador settled himself comfortable on the settee in the corner a safe distance away from the cousins, and poured himself a glass of red wine to enjoy the play before him.

"Out of respect for the Ambassador, I will forget about that… that distressingly vulgar remark of yours. But, you WILL answer my questions one way or the other. NOW." Kaoru demanded, as she lifted a foot again to prepare for another round of kicking and stomping should the need ever arise.

Long Ao groaned, and turned to look beseechingly at the Ambassador, who had raised an eyebrow at the mention of 'that distressingly vulgar remark'. The Ambassador, catching Long Ao's silent cry for help, merely grinned as he lifted the glass of red wine to his lips with a nonchalant shrug of shoulder. Long Ao scowled at him, muttering scathing remarks about traitors beneath his breath. Which prompted Kaoru to unleash the promised round of kicks. 

"Ouch! What was that for!" Long Ao yelled as he tried to dodge from Kaoru's kicks from his lying position on the floor. 

"On behalf of Aunt Aiko, I am teaching you that it is extremely rude to make remarks of unsavory nature about guests, especially guests who had so kindly provided for our lodgings and who are at time of such remarks present." Kaoru calmly replied, not stopping once in her attacks. "Besides, you have yet to answer my questions. Why were you visiting the pleasure quarters, with Saitoh, whom I specifically warned you to stay away from, tagging behind?"

"Because I am an important man and he wanted to ensure my good-health during my initiation with the infamous geishas of Japan?" Long Ao made a feeble attempt to escape Kaoru's wrath.

"Since when do you require 'initiation' to the geishas? Your reputation with the fairer sex has preceded you. Try again." Kaoru did not slow down her attacks, and finally Long Ao gave in.

"Alright, alright! I'll talk. Just give those legs a rest." Long Ao finally surrendered. "Geez, I knew I should not have spent those hours in that mosquito-infested forest teaching you close combat." 

Pushed beyond his tolerance, the Ambassador burst into loud guffaws, startling both cousins. "Never thought I'd see the day Long Ao would be thrashed so thoroughly without a chance of defense. God, now I know why you were so defensive about your cousin the other day when we were visiting Saitoh!" 

"Easy for you to laugh. Wait till you are on the receiving end of those damned legs." Long Ao scowled.

"Ah, but that's the whole point. I am not, and not likely in the foreseeable future, to be on the receiving end. While you, my dear friend, will most likely be receiving another round once you explained your past association with the Mibu's Wolf. Whom, I recall, Miss Ye Die had specifically warned you not to provoke." The Ambassador grinned.

Kaoru's eyebrows shot up at the reminder (she had forgotten about it), and she replied icily. "Indeed, my Lord. Biao Ge, I am sure you have an interesting explanation as to why you are provoking Saitoh when you had promised me that you will not bait him. Also, why were you bringing him to the pleasure quarters in the yakuzas' districts??" 

'How did you learn about it? I thought you had locked yourself in this house since we reached Japan." Long Ao was visibly startled to find Kaoru so well-informed about his movements.

"A fellow merchant paid me a… 'visit', and so kindly informed me about your nightly trysts when he was convincing me to betray you. Apparently he did not believe that we were cousins, and had assumed that I was your mistress." Kaoru's eyes narrowed at the annoying memory. The fellow merchant, a fat middle-aged man with an irritating and lecherous sneer, had actually barged in one afternoon, sat himself down and delivered his 'proposal' with an air of superiority. He was mistakenly convinced that Kaoru would break into tears at the mention of Long Ao's 'infidelity', and would be grateful for the opportunity to be his mistress, after betraying Long Ao to his benefit, of course. Kaoru had taken the opportunity to work off the stress and tension of the past year. In fact, the thrashing received by Long Ao thus far was nothing compared to the thrashing received by the said merchant.

Shaking her head to rid herself of the unwelcome memory, Kaoru once again focused on Long Ao. "Well? The explanation?"

Long Ao sighed, looked at the grandfather clock at the far end of the room, and shook his head in resignation. "Yi Tien, seems like I won't be able to make it tonight. In fact, I might not be able to live through this at all. Why don't you go home first and have an early night so that you can prepare for my funeral tomorrow?"

The Ambassador, trying to hide his amusement by covering his mouth, nodded wordlessly. On his way out, he stopped by the door and left a parting remark before leaving. "Long Ao, don't worry, I'll let the Mibu's Wolf know that you won't be able to make it tonight due to family obligations." With that, the Ambassador walked towards the door, grinning when he heard Long Ao's yells as he walked towards the gate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saitoh frowned. His prey was late tonight, which was unusual, since the prey was as eager to play as himself. His prey normally left the mansion within 5 minutes of the Ambassador's arrival, but tonight the Ambassador had been in the house for half an hour and yet no sign of either men. The only sign of life so far from the mansion was the yells that he heard, but the identity of the person making the yelling was as yet uncertain. 

At that moment someone left the mansion, and Saitoh eagerly awaited for the presence until he noticed that it was the Ambassador, alone. Again, another diversion from the norm. Saitoh watched as the Ambassador stood in the open, not going into his carriage. After a moment, it was apparent to Saitoh that the Ambassador was trying to locate something, or someone, namely himself, Saitoh acknowledged. But it would be most undiplomatic to openly admit that he had been shadowing the Chinese Ambassador and his friend for the past week, hence Saitoh remained in the shadows.

Finally, the Ambassador heaved an impatient sigh. "Alright, Saitoh-san, can we forego the niceties, forget our station, etc just for a moment?"

Saitoh raised an eyebrow at the mention of his real name, a slip his prey would never have made. Nevertheless he obligingly stepped out of the shadows.

"Lord Ambassador." He greeted the man.

"There you are. I am to convey the apologies of Long Ao, who has other engagements tonight. Why don't you go home early for once? There would be nothing for you to accomplish tonight, except for a cold night standing in the streets." The Ambassador advised. 

"Engagement?" Saitoh queried, and at the precise moment there was another yell, louder than the previous yells accompanied by sounds of many things broken. In fact, it was accompanied by the sounds of the dismantling of a room, and the Ambassador visibly winced as he listened to the ruckus. Obviously Long Ao's explanation was not convincing enough.

"Aa. A family engagement. While he would no doubt enjoy another night of baiting you unnecessarily and entertaining the geisha, which no doubt he would do regardless of your presence, he has a family obligation to honor tonight." The Ambassador made no effort to disguise the amusement from his tone.

Saitoh said nothing, studying the man before him. Understanding Saitoh's skepticism, the Ambassador added. 

"It's none of my business if you two wants to play, but know that I am only assisting him in the capacity of a personal friend, and that his presence in Japan as well as his mission is totally unrelated to the China government. You also have my word that Long Ao does not mean any harm to Japan or to yourself, and that he would be gone as soon as he finds Yukishiro Enishi. That's all I have to say, but if you two insist on continuing this bait-and-prey game, well, it's entirely up to you gentlemen of course. I am merely a spectator enjoying the play before me. But I would seriously recommend that you simply hand Enishi over to him, and then he can be on his way back home. While I wouldn't dream of interfering with either his or your entertainment, I am certain that both of you have more important matters requiring your attention. That's all I have to say, goodnight." The Ambassador climbed into his carriage, without waiting for Saitoh's reaction.

Saitoh stared after the disappearing carriage, and only when it has totally disappeared from view, while the yells continued to emit from the mansion, did he leave his spot and followed the Ambassador's advice by going home early for once. _Oh well, at least Tokio would be happy about this rare occurrence, he thought wryly. _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, in Kamiya dojo.

Megumi sighed as she made breakfast. A year ago, she would had been ecstatic about her present living arrangements. Ken-san and herself living under the same roof without another woman around to 'distract' Ken-san, never mind the intrusive presence of the rooster and kid. But now, she could not help but wish that Kaoru is still with them. At least her presence would ensure the **rurouni's presence. Ever since they returned to the dojo, Yahiko had continued his daily practice without fail and although outwardly he remained the same bratty kid, she had caught him crying silently a few times in the training hall when he was practicing alone. The poor kid is undergoing a severe case of guilt and insecurity, guilt for 'abandoning' the tanuki and insecurity now that the tanuki is gone and Ken-san is becoming increasingly reticent. **

A knock on the gates pulled her out of reverie abruptly, as she hurried her to the gates. As she reached out to open the gates, she was startled by the sudden hand which prevented her from doing so, and looking up, she found herself staring into the narrowed, but thankfully still violet eyes of the rurouni. 

"Ken-san?" Megumi queried uncertainly, when she noticed that Kenshin had his other hand on his sakabatou.

Ignoring her unspoken question, Kenshin turned slightly to look at Aoshi, who had joined them and was also similarly in defensive stance. Aoshi nodded slightly and Kenshin pushed Megumi gently but firmly to the back, so that he stood before her protectively. Despite the tense atmosphere, Megumi could not suppress the elation as she stood in what used to be Kaoru's position, which was behind Kenshin. But the elation did not show on her face, as she waited apprehensively while Kenshin opened the gates. By now, everyone else, i.e. Sano, Yahiko and Misao, had also gathered around them.

The gates opened to reveal a bald man, approximately in his mid-thirties. The said man was garbed in plain and simple robes, not unlike those of a monk. However, not even Megumi could miss his impressive warrior-like build.

Bowing, the object of attention started speaking.

"Hajimemashite. I am Si Kong. I am a monk from China. I need to speak to the people who… fought not normal people in forest … er.. many days past." He finally resolved his inability to describe his needs. 

A long silence would have ensured as Kenshin and Aoshi studied the man carefully had it not been for Yahiko and Sanosuke.

Sauntering up to the man, Sano made scathing remarks about Si Kong's linguistic abilities, to which Si Kong merely smiled apologetically, apparently understanding more than he could speak. Megumi scowled at Sanosuke's rudeness and would have interrupted him, but was prevented from doing so by Kenshin, who merely shook his head. Puzzled, Megumi mimicked Kenshin in observing the so-called monk's reactions, and was startled when Sano suddenly slammed a fist into Si Kong's face. Or tried to at least. Before the fist could connect, Si Kong raised an arm to block the fist and simultaneously turned the fist so that he was now holding Sano hostage with Sano's arm twisted behind his back. And to prevent further attacks, Si Kong forced Sano into a kneeling position by kicking Sano behind his knees and then stepping on Sano's legs so that Sano could not stand up. All of these were completed within a second, and with no apparent effort on the monk's part, who was still maintaining his calm, slightly apologetic smile.

Aoshi, who was highly accomplished in close combat himself, released a sigh of admiration at the skills displayed by the monk. Although there was nothing spectacular about the moves executed, Aoshi could read the message behind moves, and the ease with which it was carried out with practically screamed "MASTER" at him. This man was without doubt one of the greatest masters at close combat. And serves the rooster right for underestimating and provoking the man, even though Aoshi had to grudgingly acknowledge that Sano had done that to test the man. _Battousai__ and myself could have simply told him that the man could easily rival us without having to go through all these trouble, Aoshi thought. Of course, none of his thoughts ever made its way to his face._

"Release him. Now." Simple words, and uttered softly, but neither could hide the fatalness of the warning. 

The monk blinked, frowned slightly, then opened his mouth to speak again.

"Very sorry. I don't want to fight, but I need to speak to you."

"By harming our friend?" Kenshin countered.

The monk frowned even deeper. 

"Buddha said pain and sufferings are transient, but my master said only idiots run against walls. If can avoid pain, why seek pain?"

Aware that the rest of the Kenshin-gumi could not comprehend Si Kong's words, Aoshi interpreted.

"What he meant was he was merely avoiding Sanosuke's attacks. And Battousai, you have to admit that he did not harm the rooster. If he had the intentions to do so, the rooster would have been dead the moment he countered the rooster's attacks. Although I admit that I have some suspicions about his motives, it could be resolved more efficiently if we just let him talked."

Kenshin nodded, and turned sideways for the monk to pass through, which he gladly did so after helping Sanosuke stand up. 

Settling in the dining room, Kenshin and Aoshi sat facing the monk, while Yahiko and Sano curiously, and warily, sat behind the monk while Megumi and Misao sat behind Kenshin and Aoshi. Ignoring the fact that he was literally surrounded and guarded, Si Kong merely smiled in contention as he studied his surroundings.

"This place… good. Can feel, owner kind. Yes?" With that, he turned a questioning look towards Kenshin and Aoshi. Meanwhile, Kenshin's face had darkened at the oblique mention of Kaoru, and he did not reply, merely stared at the monk.

After a long silence, from which Si Kong correctly interpreted that the owner of this place was not a safe topic to discuss, he cleared his throats and started his explanations.

"I am student of Shaolin in China." At this Aoshi's eyes widened and he straightened his back, although this was only noted by Kenshin. "A brother of mine, enemies with the people you fought in the forest. But not know who they are. Maybe you can help?"

While the rest were cursing at this inadequate explanation, Kenshin asked simply. 

"Why is your brother an enemy of people he doesn't even know?"

Si Kong shrugged. "This brother, not like other brothers. Still a man of mundane world, and physical pleasures. Who knows why he is enemy? But brother is good man, help many poor people. Maybe that's why. He asked me to find out what I can about these people when I am coming to Japan. But, very hard. Japanese, very hard to learn. And these people very hard to find." Si Kong sighed with heartfelt frustration.

"Put simply: This brother of yours has not cut his worldly ties and is not a monk. He is, somehow, an enemy of the people we fought, and he has asked you to investigate these people, is that it?" Aoshi asked.

Si Kong nodded solemnly.

Aoshi frowned. "What do you mean when you said that your brother is an enemy of these people? Has he been attacked?"

Si Kong shrugged. "Not sure. Brother very secretive. Not hard to know why. Many things he did would make Old Abbot die of anger. Or maybe break vow and kill him. Brother good man, but.. very mischievous. Don't always do things in correct manners. He likes to take easy ways and shortcuts. Also like women a lot." The last was said with a grin.

Again, there was a long silence during which the Kenshin-gumi tried to interpret his words. After finally gaining enlightenment, at various lengths of time, they exchanged dubious glances as they considered this strange man and his apparently 'unorthodox brother'. 

"How do we know you are speaking the truths? I mean, you come all the way to Japan to help your brother without even knowing why? And damnit, is there an easier way to talk to you? Your Japanese is making my head spin!" Sanosuke complained. Misao and Yahiko nodded their heads in agreement with Sanosuke's complaint, while Kenshin and Aoshi merely waited for the monk's response, needing a sort of verification themselves.

Si Kong sighed, and for the first time showed a trace of impatience. Apparently even saints have limits to their patience. After frowning for long moments, he finally spoke with resignation.

"I came alone, so there's no way I can produce any proof. But I am a monk, who has forsaken all ties to the material world and has vowed to never take a life, man or beast. What harm can I do if you tell me what you know of these people, who also seems to be your enemies?"

The Kenshin-gumi considered his claims. Kenshin and Aoshi exchanged a glance, and coming to an agreement, stood up simultaneously. 

"Come, follow me to the police station. I have some news to share with Saitoh, and you might as well join us. We will explain once we reached the police station." Aoshi decided. Taking his lead, everyone else followed likewise.

Weaving their way through the market streets, they made their way to  the more wealthy district, with Si Kong leading them in front. As they passed a business district more occupied by the Chinese merchants, they found the entire district to be in an uproar as both Chinese and Japanese merchants vied with one another to get the attention of some unseen personage.

Mystified by the sight, the entire group, including Si Kong, exchanged baffled looks. Catching hold of the person nearest to him and holding said captive in place, Sano asked directly, "Oy, what's the fuss?"

The man, giving Sano a disdainful look, replied haughtily. "Let go of me, you ruffian. I must talk to her before the other competitors. Master Fang had refused to talk business since he reached Japan, since he claimed he's in Japan solely for pleasure and had only been visiting the pleasure quarters. And Ms Ye Die had been cooped at the Lord Ambassador's mansion since her arrival. But she's finally came out today with the Lord Ambassador's wife, to do a bit of shopping she says. But we all know that's an excuse, she's here to check out the potential business and I must show her my wares before the others. Now let go of me!"

While the Kenshin-gumi exchanged baffled glances, Si Kong straightened visibly and exclaimed. "Master Fang? As in Fang Long Ao? And his famous cousin, the Night Butterfly? What on earth are they doing in Japan?!?"

Curious, the merchant stopped struggling, as the Kenshin-gumi looked at him in curiosity.

"Do you know them?" the merchant asked unbelievingly, giving the monk's clothes a dismissive glance.

Interpreting Kenshin's and Aoshi's carefully blank expression, Si Kong hastened to explain, more to the Kenshin-gumi than to the merchant. "Fang Long Ao is one of the most successful businessman in the entire China. Might be more correct to say that he is THE most successful businessman in China. No other competitors even come close. He has business dealings from the capital to the farthest provinces, such as Mongolia, or even Tibet for all I know. He is also er…. that is to say, I have met him before." Silently he closed his eyes in a brief prayer to Buddha for forgiveness for the slight misrepresentation.

Opening his eyes, he saw that his efforts was wasted, as the Kenshin-gumi were eyeing him with open suspicion now. Wincing, he continued hurriedly. "I have not met Miss Fang Ye Die, who is known to be Long Ao's cousin. But since she only started appearing with Long Ao last year, I suppose that's understandable. However I understand that in the last year she had been a tremendous help to Long Ao's business. Last I know, they were in China with Long Ao still continuing his er… frequent travelling while Miss Ye Die looked after the business. As to why they are here, I really have no idea. However, Long Ao might be able to help as the Ambassador. Why don't we go and see him?"

The merchant, his interest in the monk awakened now that he learned that the monk is acquainted with the tycoon, eagerly advised him. "Oh, but he's not here. Word was, he and the Lord Ambassador went to the police headquarters, though no one is quite sure why. As I said, it's only Miss Ye Die and the Lord Ambassador's wife, Lady Chen. Do you think you can introduce me to Miss Ye Die?" the last was added hopefully.

"Police station?" Si Kong was understandably startled, while Kenshin and Aoshi exchanged a look. Saitoh's remark about a dragon to hunt was coming back to them, and if the mysterious Fang Long Ao was 'acquainted' with Si Kong, and somehow they had a reasonable suspicion that the relationship was much deeper than that, then Saitoh's interest in the man in understandable. Even shared. And the mysterious cousin who only appeared last year was as intriguing. 

As they turned to watch the crowd again, trying to catch a glimpse of the said cousin, two figures pushed past the crowd towards their direction. From the way the crowd tried to close in on the two figures, it was obvious who these two ladies were. 

Not wasting any time, Si Kong walked up to them exclaiming loudly in Chinese. "Miss Fang, a word with you please." 

The two figures stopped and turned towards them. And the Kenshin-gumi gasped, lost in a mixture of shock, happiness and relief. 

"Kaoru-dono…." the whisper left Kenshin's mouth in disbelief. Hearing Kenshin's whisper, the two ladies' eyes turned to look at Kenshin. And in that moment, time stilled to a stop, as clear blue eyes widened in shock to meet startled violet eyes…. 

Author's babbling:

Will try to get the next chapter out next month. I have some holidays due to me next month (hehehe) before my school starts in March, and between work and school I won't have time to work on the fic until June (sob). 

Special note to Firuze: Really wanted to ask you to help with the editing. But since I dragged this so long, I thought I'd better post this up before someone comes after my blood. The next chapter though, will really need your help. Hope you have spare time next month to do some editing (puppy eyes)?


End file.
